The entitlement of legal representatives to claim compensation under Section 166(1)(c) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

JUDGMENT

1. These appeals were taken up through Video Conferencing Mode due to COVID-19 Pandemic.

2. I have heard Mr. Bijoy Dasmohapatra, learned counsel for the appellant- insurance Company and Mr B.N. Rath learned counsel for the respondents No 1 to 6 -claimants in MACA No.384 of 2019. Mr. Rath is also the counsel for the appellants No. 1 to 6 -claimants in MACA No.274 of 2019. I have also heard Mr. S.K. Mohanty, learned counsel for the respondent No.2 United Insurance Company in MACA No 274 of 2019 .

3. MACA No.274 of 2019 has been preferred by the appellants-claimants and MACA No.384 of 2019 has been preferred by the Branch Manager, United India Insurance Company Ltd., Similipada. Both have challenged the judgment/award dated 08.03.2019 passed by the learned A.DJ.-cum-4th M.A.C.T., Angul in MAC Case No.194 of 2017 on different grounds.

4. The case of claimants is as follows: On 18.10.2017 at about 2.30 P.M., while the deceased-Lalit Pradhan was coming from Sambalpur side to his villge on N.H.55 in a motorcycle on the extreme left side of the road, on the way near village Thirly the offending truck bearing registration No.MH-21-X-6799 came from Jujumara side in a rash and negligent manner at a high speed and dashed against Lalit Pradhan, as a result of which he sustained grievous injuries on his head and vital part of his body and died at the spot. The ill fated accident happened only due to gross negligence of the driver of the offending truck resulting in the death of the deceased Lalit Pradhan and the deceased had no contribution The accident occurred due to the sole negligence of the driver of the Sukanta offending truck, which could have been easily avoided, if the driver of the offending truck would have taken slight care as the road was quite wide and spacious .They have stated that the owner and insurer of the truck are jointly and severally liable to pay the compensation as they are joint tort feasors . They have claimed that the deceased was earning more than Rs 12,000/- per month and contributing major share of his income to his family . They claimed a sum of Rs 14,00,000/-alongwith interest of 14 % per annum from the date of filing the application towards pain , suffering , mental agony , loss of future income , loss of love and affection , loss of estate . loss of consortium and funeral expenses.

5. Mr. Bijoy Dasmohapatra, learned counsel for the appellant-Insurance company has submitted that the impugned judgment is liable for interference as the accused driver was not having a valid driving licence which is a breach of policy condition and hence the direction of the learned Tribunal to indemnify the owner is erroneous. He states that he has filed I.A no 733 of 2019 alongwith the copy of the driving licence of the accused driver Gajanan Jadhav which indicates that he was not authorized to drive the offending vehicle- truck on the date of occurrence.

He further submits that the direction to pay the default (penal) interest) is illegal and should be set aside. He also submits that the compensation amount is on the higher side as only l/4th instead of l/3rd of the income has been deducted towards personal expenses even though the sons of the deceased were major.

6. Mr. S.K. Mohanty, learned counsel appearing for the respondent - insurance company in M.A.C.A No 274 of 2019reiterates the contentions of Mr. Das Mohapatra learned counsel.

7. Mr. B.N. Rath, learned counsel for the claimants has submitted that the impugned judgment is liable for interference as the learned Tribunal has committed gross illegality in calculating the compensation by fixing the monthly income of the deceased at only Rs.5000/- when the oral evidence and pleadings clearly established that the deceased was earning Rs.12000/- per month from cultivation and vegetable business. Even otherwise as the accident took place in the year 2017, when a manual labourer was not getting less than Rs.300/- per day and the deceased was maintaining a family consisting