The determination of notional income in compensation claims must reflect fair and just remuneration aligned with established legal precedents.

J U D G M E N T

This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act , 1988 (the Act) has been filed by the claim petitioners in O.P.(MV) No.414/2015 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Thiruvananthapuram (the Tribunal), aggrieved by the amount of compensation granted by Award dated 15/03/2019. The sole respondent herein is the third respondent in the petition. In this appeal, the parties and the documents will be referred to as described in the original petition.

2. The claim petitioners are the father, mother and brother of the deceased. According to the claim petitioners, on 14/12/2014 at about 08:40 p.m., the deceased was travelling as pillion rider in motorcycle bearing registration no. KL-21/C-702, from Poojappura to Thirumala. When reached the place near Vijayamohini Spinning Mills, Thirumala, car bearing registration No.KL-17/G-1232 driven by the second respondent, rashly and negligently knocked him down causing grievous injuries to which he succumbed.

3. The first respondent/owner and the second respondent/driver remained ex parte.

4. The third respondent/insurer filed written statement admitting the existence of a valid policy in respect of the offending vehicle, but contended that the amount claimed was exorbitant.

5. Before the Tribunal, no oral evidence was adduced by either side. Exts.A1 to A24 were marked on the side of the claim petitioners. No documentary evidence was adduced by the respondents.

6. The Tribunal on consideration of the documentary evidence and after hearing both sides, found negligence on the part of the second respondent/driver of the car resulting in the incident and hence awarded an amount of ₹12,06,750/- together with interest @ 8% per annum from the date of the petition till the date of realisation with proportionate costs. Aggrieved by the Award, the claim petitioners have come up in appeal.

7. The only point that arises for consideration in this appeal is whether there is any infirmity in the findings of the Tribunal calling for an interference by this Court.

8. Heard both sides.

9. The award of compensation by the Tribunal under the following head is challenged by the claim petitioners -

Notional income It is submitted by the learned counsel for the claim petitioners that the deceased, a teacher, was earning an amount of ₹8,000/- per month. However, the Tribunal fixed the notional income at ₹7,000/- which going by the dictum in Ramachandrappa v. Manager, Royal Sundaram Alliance Co. Ltd. (2011) 13 SCC 236 is quite low and therefore the same needs to be enhanced.

In the light of the dictum in Ramachandrappa (Supra) the notional income of the deceased is fixed as ₹9,500/- per month.

10. The impugned Award is modified to the following extent :