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2018 Supreme(Sikk) 73
IN THE HIGH COURT OF SIKKIM, GANGTOK
MEENAKSHI MADAN RAI, J.
The Branch Manager, Shriram General Insurance Company Limited - Appellant
Versus
Mr. Churamani Sharma, Son of late Dilli Ram Sharma. - Respondents
MAC App. No. 10 of 2017
Decided on : 26-10-2018
For the Appellant :Mr. Yadev Sharma and Mr. Dilip Kumar Tamang, Advocates
For the Respondent:Mrs. Vidya Lama and Mr. Nima Tshering Sherpa, Mr. Rajendra Upreti, Advocate
The main legal point established in the judgment is the determination of notional income and the appropriate multiplier for assessing compensation in the case of a deceased minor under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Headnote:
Notional Income - Motor Accident Compensation - Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Section 163-A - Lata Wadhwa and Others vs. State of Bihar and Others, (2001) 8 SCC 197 - Kishan Gopal and Another vs. Lala and Others, (2014) 1 SCC 244 - Sarla Verma (Smt.) and Others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, (2009) 6 SCC 121 - Amrit Bhanu Shali and Others vs. National Insurance Company Limited and Others, (2012) 11 SCC 738
Fact of the Case:
The case involved a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death of a 12-year-old child. The appellant contested the computation of the deceased's notional income, leading to an appeal against the judgment and award of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the notional income of the victim should be assessed at Rs.30,000 per annum, and the appropriate multiplier of 15 should be adopted. The compensation was re-calculated and modified to Rs.5,00,000 with an additional amount for loss of love and affection, funeral expenses, and last rites. The appellant was directed to pay the awarded amount to the respondents with interest.
Issues: The main issue was the computation of the deceased's notional income and the appropriate multiplier for assessing compensation.
Ratio Decidendi: The court relied on the legal principles established in Lata Wadhwa and Others vs. State of Bihar and Others, Kishan Gopal and Another vs. Lala and Others, Sarla Verma (Smt.) and Others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, and Amrit Bhanu Shali and Others vs. National Insurance Company Limited and Others to determine the notional income and multiplier for assessing compensation in the case of a deceased minor.
Final Decision: The court modified the judgment and award of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, re-calculating the compensation to Rs.5,00,000 and directing the appellant to pay the awarded amount to the respondents with interest.
JUDGMENT :
Meenakshi Madan Rai, J
1. The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, East Sikkim at Gangtok (for short 'learned Tribunal'), vide the impugned Judgment and Award dated 22.02.2017 in MACT Case No. 51 of 2015, directed the Appellant to pay a sum of Rs.6,72,500/-(Rupees six lakhs, seventy two thousand and five hundred) only, with interest at the rate of 10% per annum, on the said sum, to the Respondents No. 1 and 2, from the date of filing of the Claim Petition i.e. 21.12.2015, till full and final payment.
2. Aggrieved by the said Judgment and Award, the Appellant is before this Court assailing both, on one ground viz. that the learned Tribunal wrongly computed the Notional Income of the deceased, a minor aged 12 years at Rs.6,000/-(Rupees six thousand) only, per month. The other grounds were not pressed in Appeal.
3. The Respondents No. 1 and 2 herein, were the Claimants No. 1 and 2 before the learned Tribunal. The Appellant herein was the Opposite Party No. 2 and the Respondent No. 3 herein was the Opposite Party No. 1 before the learned Tribunal. They shall be referred to in their order of appearance before this Court.
4. Before the learned Tribunal, the Respondents No. 1 and 2, sought compensation amounting to Rs.12,21,604/-(Rupees twelve lakhs, twenty one thousand, six hundred and four) only, on account of the death of their son, aged 12 years, on 08.06.2014 at around 15:30 Hrs, in a motor vehicle accident which occurred at Padamchey, about 12 kilometres south of Pakyong Police Station, Pakyong, East Sikkim.
5. The only argument accentuated by learned Counsel for the Appellant is that as the child was 12 years old at the time of the accident, hence, the learned Tribunal was in error in computing the compensation on the assumption that the loss of earning of the victim would be Rs.6,000/-(Rupees six thousand) only, per month. Seeking a modification of the compensation, attention was drawn to the decision of this Court in MAC App. No. 23 of 2015 (The Branch Manager, National Insurance Company Limited vs. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Balabhai Kapadia and Others), which while considering an Appeal filed by the Insurance Company where the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, North Sikkim at Mangan had awarded a compensation of Rs.6,17,500/-(Rupees six lakhs, seventeen thousand and five hundred) only, to the Claimants No. 1 and 3, held that so far as the children between the age group of 10 to 15 years were concerned, their Notional Income was to be assessed at Rs.24,000/-(Rupees twenty four thousand) only, per annum and the Multiplier of 15 was found to be appropriate. This was in view of the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Lata Wadhwa and Others vs. State of Bihar and Others, (2001) 8 SCC 197. That the same consideration may be adopted while disposing of the instant Appeal.
6. Learned Counsel for the Respondents No. 1 and 2 would submit that the loss of a child cannot be calculated in pecuniary terms and no error obtains in the Judgment and Award computed by the learned Tribunal which ought to be left undisturbed.
7. I have considered the submissions of learned Counsel for the parties. I have also perused the documents and evidence on record.
8. The facts, as unfurled, reveal that the victim, son of the Respondents No. 1 and 2, aged 12 years was travelling from his residence at Padamchey on 08.06.2014, in vehicle bearing No. SK-01-D/1001, to the construction site of his uncle when the unfortunate accident occurred at Padamchey, about 12 kilometres south of Pakyong Police Station, Pakyong, East Sikkim which claimed his life.
9. It is not denied by either party that the deceased was 12 years old at the time of his death and studying in Class VI in a Government Secondary School in Padamchey, Pakyong, East Sikkim.
10. In MAC App. No. 23 of 2015 referred to supra, this Court was examining the award of compensation of a sum o
