Smt Kamalamma W/O Late Narayanaswamy V. New India Assurance Co Ltd and Sri S Joshna W/O Sri K Sudhakar and The Managing Director APSRTC

MFA/8291/2012

AI Insights

The case involves an appeal by Smt Kamalamma, represented by her legal representative Sri Narasimha Murthy, seeking enhancement of compensation awarded for the death of her son, N. Arun Kumar, in a motor vehicle accident. The original compensation of Rs.2,68,000 was deemed insufficient, prompting the appeal to the High Court of Karnataka. The court examined the income evidence provided, recalculated the loss of dependency using the deceased's actual income and future prospects, and added amounts for loss of consortium and conventional heads. The appeal was allowed in part, significantly increasing the compensation awarded.

• Counselvise Citation: [2022] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 798809 (HC-KARNATAKA)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 12-08-2022
• Assessment Year: misc
• Laws Referred To: MV Act
• Result in Favour of: Others
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: S V MULKHAND
• Assessee Lawyers: SHRIPAD SHASTRI
• Keywords: Compensation Enhancement; Legal representative; Loss of dependency; Motor Accident
• Section: 173(1)

Judgement Text

"- 1 - MFA No. 8291 of 2012 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 12TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2022 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N S SANJAY GOWDA MISCELLANEOUS FIRST APPEAL NO. 8291 OF 2012 (MV) BETWEEN: SMT KAMALAMMA W/O LATE NARAYANASWAMY, AGED ABOUT 63 YEARS, SINCE DIED ON 23.07.2010 BY HER LR: SRI NARASIMHA MURTHY, S/O LATE NARAYAN SWAMY, AGED ABOUT 28 YEARS, R/AT NO.613, 10TH A MAIN, BASAVESHWARANAGAR, BANGALORE - 79. .. APPELLANT (BY SRI. SHRIPAD V SHASTRI, ADVOCATE) AND: 1. NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO LTD RO.2B, UNITY BUILDING, ANNEXE MISSION ROAD, BANGALORE - 27, BY ITS MANAGER. 2. SRI S JOSHNA W/O SRI K SUDHAKAR, MAJOR, R/AT NO. 6-1-164, VARADA RAJA NAGAR, K.T. ROAD, TIRUPATI - 517501 Digitally signed by PANKAJA S Location: High Court of Karnataka - 2 - MFA No. 8291 of 2012 3. THE MANAGING DIRECTOR APSRTC, MUSHIRABAD, HYDERABVAD, ANDRAPRADESH. .. RESPONDENTS (BY SRI. S V HEGDE MULKHAND., ADVOCATE FOR R1; NOTICE TO R2 & R3 ARE DISPENSED WITH VIDE ORDER DATED 24.02.2014 & 19.12.2019 RESPECTIVELY) THIS MFA IS FILED U/S 173(1) OF MV ACT PRAYING TO MODIFY AND ENHANCE THE COMPENSATION FROM Rs.2,68,000/- TO Rs.12,00,000/- AWARDED BY THE MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, X ADDL. JUDGE, (SCCH-16), BANGALORE IN MVC NO.4362/2009 DATED 06.02.2012, WITH COST AND INTEREST, IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE. THIS APPEAL COMING ON FOR FINAL HEARING THIS DAY, THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: J U D G M E N T 1. The appeal is filed seeking for enhancement of compensation. 2. It is not in dispute that as a result of the motor vehicle accident which occurred on 14.12.2008 at about 4.15 p.m., one N.Arun Kumar, aged about 26 years old died. 3. It is not in dispute that the Insurer is liable to pay the compensation as the offending vehicle was insured. - 3 - MFA No. 8291 of 2012 4. The Tribunal, on assessment of the evidence adduced before it, has come to the conclusion that the driver of the offending vehicle was responsible for the accident which has resulted in the death of N.Arun Kumar. The Tribunal has thereafter proceeded to award the following sums as compensation: Sl. No. Particulars Amount in (Rs.) 1. Loss of Dependency 2,43,000/- 2. Loss of love and affection and expectancy of life 10,000/- 3. Funeral expenses 10,000/- 4. Transportation of dead body 5,000/- Total 2,68,000/- 5. In order to arrive at the loss of dependency, the Tribunal has determined the monthly income, notionally at Rs.4,500/-. The claimants had produced Income-Tax returns of the deceased for the year 2006-07, which would indicate that the deceased had filed IT returns showing that his annual income was Rs.1,07,802/-, which translates to about Rs.9,000/- per month. In my view, - 4 - MFA No. 8291 of 2012 since the Income-Tax returns have been filed one year prior to the accident, the same will have to be accepted and the monthly income is, therefore, determined at Rs.9,000/-. The deceased was stated to be a bachelor and hence, towards his personal expenses, 50% has to be deducted and this would result in notional income at Rs.4,500/- per month. 6. As the deceased was aged 24 years, 40% will have to be added towards future prospects, which would come to Rs.6,300/- and the multiplier of '18' will have to be applied. Consequently, the claimants would be entitled to a sum of Rs.13,60,800/- (Rs.6,300/- x 12 x 18) towards “loss of dependency”. 7. It is stated that the first appellant, who is the mother of the deceased, is no more. Hence, the compensation shall be paid to her legal representative i.e., brother of the deceased. The brother of the deceased would be entitled to a sum of Rs.44,000/- towards “loss of consortium” and - 5 - MFA No. 8291 of 2012 he would also be entitled to a sum of Rs.33,000/- under the “conventional heads”. 8. Thus, the claimant, in modification of the impugned award, would be entitled to the following sums Sl. No. Particulars Amount in (Rs.) 1. Loss of Dependency 13,60,800/- 2. Loss of Consortium 44,000/- 3. Conventional Head 33,000/- Total 14,37,800/- 9. Thus, the claimant would be entitled for compensation of Rs.14,37,800/- as against Rs.2,68,000/- awarded by the Tribunal, along with interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of petition till its realization. 10. The Insurance Company is directed to deposit the amount of compensation awarded within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this judgment. - 6 - MFA No. 8291 of 2012 The appeal is accordingly allowed in part. SD/- JUDGE KNM List No.: 1 Sl No.: 8 "