Sadhana Bala Sarkar vs Shyamu Sarkar And Ors

[1] This appeal is filed by the original claimants seeking enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, West Tripura, Agartala in the impugned award dated 5th July, 2017 passed in Title Suit (MAC) No.121 of 2017.

[2] Brief facts are as under :

On 20th May, 2017 at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, one Sudhir Sarkar was going from Badharghat to Siddhi Ashram, Agartala on foot. At that time, one Maruti Alto car bearing registration No.TR-01-AF-0376 came at a high speed and collided with the pedestrian causing fatal injuries. His widow, sons and daughters therefore filed the above mentioned claim petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal claiming compensation of Rs.5,85,000/- from the owner and insurer of the offending vehicle. The Claims Tribunal believed that the accident was caused due to the sole negligence of the driver of the vehicle. There was no proof of the age of the deceased. The Tribunal, however, accepted the say of the claimants that he was 65 years of age at the time of accident. The claimants had not produced any evidence of his occupation or earning. They had, however, argued that he was a skilled labourer working as a Carpenter. The Claims Tribunal in absence of any evidence accepted his income of Rs.206/- per day as an unskilled labourer and believed that he would be working for all 30(thirty) days in a month. The Tribunal, thereafter, set apart 1/4th of the income for the personal expenditure of the deceased and worked out the dependency benefits for the claimants by applying the correct multiplier looking to the age of the deceased. In a final analysis the Tribunal awarded a total compensation of Rs.3,60,000/- inclusive of compensation for conventional heads such as loss of solatium etc. The claimants seek enhancement of the compensation.

[3] Mr. S.B. Debnath, learned counsel appearing for the claimants submitted that the deceased was a Carpenter. He would be earning minimum of Rs.1,000/- per day. The Tribunal, therefore, committed a serious error in awarding inadequate compensation.

[4] On the other hand, Mrs. S. Deb (Gupta), learned counsel appearing for the insurance company opposed the appeal contending that there was no proof of the occupation of the deceased. At the age of 65 years he cannot be expected to work for every single day of the month. Lastly, the evidence on record suggests that widow of the deceased was the sole dependent, the rest of the claimants had their independent source of incomes.

[5] As noted, the Tribunal has accepted the age of the deceased at 65 years as declared by the claimants. There was no evidence of any occupation of the deceased despite which the Tribunal took his daily income at Rs.206/- per day and believed that he would be working for every single day of the month.

[6] I do not find there is any further scope for increase in the compensation awarded by the Tribunal. If the widow was the sole dependent, reduction for the personal expenditure of the deceased ought to have been higher than 1/4th of his income where the Tribunal had applied.

[7] Before closing, two aspects need to be clarified. One is that the total compensation awarded by the Tribunal under the impugned award would be received by the widow alone and no amount would be payable to any other claimant. Secondly, the accident occurred 3(three) years back. At that relevant time, the widow herself was over 60(sixty) years. Investing 75% of the compensation awarded in fixed deposit is, therefore, on the higher side.

[8] The appeal is, therefore, disposed of with following directions :

(i) There shall be no increase in the compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal.

(ii) Entire compensation would be received by the widow of the deceased alone.

(iii) Out of the total amount deposited by the insurance company for satisfaction of the award passed by the Claims Tribunal, 50% would be released in favour of the widow, remaining 50% would be invested in any Nationalized Bank in a fixed deposit for a period of 5 years. Interest accruing on such fixed deposit would be paid over to the widow periodically. At the end of the period of fixed deposit, entire amount would be released in favour of the widow.

[9] The award is modified to this limited extent. Appeal is disposed of accordingly. Pending application(s), if any, also stands disposed of. Records may be transmitted to the lower Court.