N SARASWATHAMMA V. THE COMMANDANT

MFA/5343/2016

AI Insights

The case involves an appeal by the dependents of a deceased individual, Narayanaswamy, who was killed in a motorcycle accident involving a military truck. The petitioners, comprising Narayanaswamy's wife and children, sought compensation for their loss, which was initially set at Rs. 48,67,200 by the Tribunal. They appealed for an enhancement of this amount, arguing that the compensation awarded was inadequate considering the loss of love, affection, and other personal losses. The respondent contested the dependency status of some petitioners and the calculation of personal expenses deducted from the compensation. The High Court of Karnataka, after reviewing the evidence and applying relevant legal principles, agreed to enhance the compensation, acknowledging the contributions and losses suffered by the dependents.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 770478 (HC-KARNATAKA)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 03-11-2023
• Assessment Year: misc
• Other Referred Cases: National Insurance Co.Ltd. -vs- Pranay Sethi and Others, Sarla Varma (Smt.) and Others -vs- Delhi Transport Corporation and Another
• Laws Referred To: MV Act
• Result in Favour of: Partly Allowed
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: H GOUD
• Assessee Lawyers: PAVAN CHANDRA SHETTY
• Keywords: Accident; Compensation; Dependents; Enhancement; Motorcycle; Military truck
• Section: 173(1)

Judgement Text

" - 1 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 3RD DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2023 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE T.G. SHIVASHANKARE GOWDA MFA NO. 5343 OF 2016 (MV-D) BETWEEN: 1. N SARASWATHAMMA W/O LATE R.NARAYANASWAMY AGED ABOUT 45 YEARS 2. H.N.DIVAKAR REDDY S/O LATE R.NARAYANASWAMY AGED ABOUT 21 YEARS 3. H.N.SHASHIKALA S/O LATE R.NARAYANASWAMY W/O KRISHNA, AGED ABOUT 26 YEARS 4. H.N.SWETHA D/O LATE R.NARAYANASWAMY W/O M.V.NAGARAJ AGED ABOUT 24 YEARS ALL ARE R/AT HOLURU VILLAGE & POST KOLAR TALUK AND DISTRICT …APPELLANTS (BY SRI. PAVAN CHANDRA SHETTY H., ADV.) AND: THE COMMANDANT MECHANICAL TRANSPORT WING ASC CENTRE (SOUTH), AGARAM POST OLD AIRPORT ROAD, BENGALURU …RESPONDENT (BY SRI.H.MALLAN GOUD, CGC) THIS MFA IS FILED UNDER SECTION 173(1) OF MV ACT AGAINST THE JUDGMENT AND AWARD DATED 09.06.2016 PASSED IN MVC NO.494/2014 ON THE FILE OF THE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT JUDGE, MEMBER, MACT, KOLAR, Digitally signed by MALA K N Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA - 2 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 PARTLY ALLOWING THE CLAIM PETITION FOR COMPENSATION AND SEEKING ENHANCEMENT OF COMPENSATION. THIS APPEAL, COMING ON FOR HEARING, THIS DAY, THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: JUDGMENT In this appeal, the petitioners have challenged the judgment and award dated 09.06.2016 passed in M.V.C.No.494/2014 by the I Addl. District Judge and M.A.C.T., Kolar ('the Tribunal' for short). 2. For the sake of convenience, the parties shall be referred to as per their status before the Tribunal. 3. Brief facts of the case are, on 16.09.2014 at about 12:30 pm, the husband of 1st petitioner, father of petitioners No.2 to 4 by name Narayanaswamy, the deceased, while riding the motor cycle bearing Reg.No.KA-07/Q-9223 along with his friend one Anand near Lakshmisagara gate, a Military Truck BA.No.02D150445H hit against the motor cycle injuring the deceased and pillion rider. The - 3 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 deceased succumbed to death during treatment. The petitioners being the dependents, approached the Tribunal for grant of compensation of Rs.60,00,000/-. Claim was opposed by the respondent. The Tribunal after taking the evidence, by impugned judgment awarded compensation of Rs.48,67,200/- with 6% interest p.a. Pleading inadequacy and seeking enhancement, the petitioners have filed this appeal on various grounds. 4. Heard the arguments of Sri. H. Pavan Chandra Shetty, learned counsel for the petitioners and Sri. H. Mallan Goud, learned C.G.C. for the respondent. 5. It is the contention of learned counsel for the petitioners that there are 4 dependants of the deceased, each of them are to be compensated towards loss of love and affection apart from funeral expenses and loss of estate, the Tribunal has - 4 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 inadequately awarded the compensation and he sought for enhancement. 6. Per contra, learned C.G.C. for the respondent has contended that the Tribunal has assessed the income by taking all the petitioners as dependants, but petitioners No.3 and 4 are the married daughters, settled in their matrimonial home, the 2nd petitioner is a major son and he is not a dependant. Only the surviving dependant is 1st petitioner and the Tribunal has deducted 1/4th instead of 1/3rd towards personal expenses and he sought for modification of the award. 7. I have given my anxious consideration to the arguments addressed on both sides and also perused the materials on record. 8. There is no dispute as to the accident, cause of the accident, death of the deceased on account of the accidental injuries and entitlement of 1st petitioner to claim compensation as dependant. - 5 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 The issue is regarding whether petitioners No.2 to 4 are the dependants or not. As rightly contended by learned C.G.C. for the respondent, petitioners No.3 and 4 are married daughters, they cannot be treated as dependants. The 2nd petitioner is aged 21 years and he is still a student. Therefore, he could be a dependant on his father. The material on record did point out that the deceased was aged 45 years as mentioned in Ex.P5/post-mortem report. Since the deceased left behind 2 dependants, 1/3rd has to be deducted towards personal expenses instead of 1/4th effected by the Tribunal. 9. In a case of this nature, principles of assessment of compensation is settled by the Hon'ble Apex Court in National Insurance Co.Ltd. -vs- Pranay Sethi and Others1 and Sarla Varma (Smt.) and Others -vs- Delhi Transport 1 (2017) 16 SCC 680 - 6 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 Corporation and Another2. The Tribunal has referred to Sarla Verma's case (supra) regarding selection of multiplier '14' for the age of 45 years, which is correct. 10. As regarding income is concerned, the Tribunal has discussed about the deceased being an Income Tax Assessee, he was earning a sum of Rs.2,88,240/- as commission from the L.I.C. of India, he was also a Supervisor at Holuru Gram Panchayath Library getting a salary of Rs.5,500/- per month from Chief Library Officer, District Central Library, Kolar as per Ex.P13 to 15. Ex.P12 is the Form No.16A for the year 2014. Hence, the income from the L.I.C. commission and salary can be accepted. The deceased is owning agricultural land as per Ex.P17 to P22/RTC Extracts. The agricultural income is not assessed by the Tribunal. The deceased left with a son and wife. They are 2 (2009) 6 SCC 121 - 7 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 cultivating the land and getting the income even after the accident. Only supervisory loss has occurred on account of death of the deceased. Hence, a sum of Rs.5,000/- per month could be the supervisory loss that can be assessed. There is no evidence that the deceased was earning regular income by dealing with Herbal Life Private Limited products, hence the income of the deceased will be Rs.2,88,240/- + Rs.66,000/- (salary) + Rs.60,000/- (loss of agricultural supervision) = Rs.4,14,240/-. Since the deceased is in the age group between 40 to 50 years and having a permanent employment, 30% has to be considered as future prospects. As petitioners No.1 and 2 are the dependants, 1/3rd has to be deducted towards personal expenses. If all these principles are applied, then calculation of loss of dependency comes to Rs.4,14,240/- + Rs.1,24,272/- (30%) = Rs.5,38,512/- - Rs.1,79,504/- (1/3rd) = Rs.3,59,008/- x '14' multiplier = Rs.50,26,112/-. Under conventional - 8 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 heads, the petitioners are entitled to compensation of Rs.40,000/- each towards loss of consortium to the wife and loss of love and affection to the children and Rs.15,000/- each towards funeral expenses and loss of estate. Then, the total compensation comes to Rs.52,16,112/- as against Rs.48,67,200/- awarded by the Tribunal which is on the lower side. 11. After submitting their arguments learned counsels on both sides have agreed for award of global compensation, extending benefit to either side in a sum of Rs.1,15,000/- for which the petitioners are fully satisfied. Hence, the appeal merits consideration, in the result, the following: ORDER i) Appeal is allowed-in-part. ii) Impugned judgment is modified. iii) The petitioners are entitled to enhanced global compensation of - 9 - NC: 2023:KHC:39317 MFA No. 5343 of 2016 Rs.1,15,000/- with 6% interest p.a. from the date of petition till the date of deposit. iv) The respondent is directed to deposit the compensation within eight weeks from the date of receipt of certified copy of the judgment. v) Amount in deposit, if any, shall be transmitted to the Tribunal along with records forthwith. SD/- JUDGE PA CT:HS List No.: 1 Sl No.: 28 "