Shiv Kumar and Others vs Raj Kumar and Others

G.C. Garg, J.—Raj Pali and Badan Singh, mother and the father respectively of the appellants were going on a Moped in the morning of 22.6.1991. A four-wheeler being driven by respondent Raj Kumar hit the said Moped. Raj Pali and Badan Singh fell on the ground, sustained multiple injuries and died due to the injuries suffered in the accident. Two separate claim petitions, being MACT Cases 103 and 104 of 1991, u/s 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act were filed by their three sons and two daughters claiming compensation for the death of their mother and father respectively. The two claim petitions were disposed by the learned Tribunal by one order dated 9.3.1992.

Learned Tribunal on a consideration of the matter came to the conclusion that the two daughters were married and residing with their husbands and their in-laws. Learned Tribunal further came to the conclusion that they may have a claim for a share under the Hindu Succession Act being Class-I heirs of a Hindu dying intestate but being married, they cannot be said to be legal representatives/dependents on the deceased as they are dependent on their respective husbands after marriage. Learned Tribunal after further observing that the dependency is with reference to the pecuniary loss and not the love and affection, held that the two daughters, claimants 4 and 5 in the two claim petitions were not the dependents either on their mother or on their father.

As regards the compensation for the death of Raj Pali, learned Tribunal came to the conclusion that she was not less than 60 years of age at the time of death and she might have been rendering services to her three sons and on her death the three sons may have to engage some lady to render services to them and remuneration for this job to another lady engaged can safely be put at Rs. 400/- per month. Learned Tribunal having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case determined the dependency of the claimants on their mother Raj Pali at Rs. 400/- i.e Rs. 4800/- per year or to say, Rs. 5000/- and applying a multiplier of 8, awarded a sum of Rs. 40,000/-. As regards the compensation for the death of Badan Singh, learned Tribunal came to the conclusion that Badan Singh on the date of the accident was having an income of Rs. 1566/- by way of his pension which he was getting being a retired teacher from Govt. Service. Learned Tribunal, however, deducting a sum of Rs. 566/- on account of personal expenses, assessed the dependency of the three sons on their father Badan Singh at Rs. 1000/- i.e. Rs. 12,000/- per annum. Learned Tribunal applied a multiplier of five and thus awarded a compensation of Rs. 60,000/- for the death of Badan Singh.

Dissatisfied with the quantum of compensation, the claimants have filed these appeals seeking enhancement of compensation.

As regards compensation for the death of Raj Pali, learned Tribunal came to the conclusion that the three sons might be dependent on their mother for her services to them i.e. cooking of food and cleaning the house etc. and such services may be available by engaging another lady at Rs. 400/- per month. Learned Tribunal thus calculated the amount of compensation by taking this figure. On a consideration of the matter, I am of the opinion that the dependency on this count assessed by the learned Tribunal is on the lower side. Besides cooking and cleaning of the house, there are still other jobs which are done by a woman of the age of Raj Pali in the capacity of a mother. In the absence of their mother, the claimants may have to employ a female or male servant to look after the house. Thus taking this into consideration, I am of the opinion that the claimants must be spending a sum of Rs. 500/- per month on all counts which were being attended to by their mother during her life time before death. I thus assess the dependency of the claimants on their mother at Rs. 500/- per month i.e. Rs. 6000/- per year. The multiplier of eight applied by the Tribunal is just. The amount of compensation by taking the dependency of Rs. 500/- per month and applying a multiplier of eight would thus come to Rs. 48,000/- rounded of to Rs. 50,000/-.

As regards the compensation for the death of Badan Singh, it came in evidence before the Tribunal that Badan Singh who was a retired teacher from Government service was re-employed as Headmaster in Manas Shiksha Sadar High School, Hodel and was drawing a salary of Rs. 3040/- per month besides getting pension of Rs. 1566/- per month, but the learned Tribunal totally ignored this evidence and did not take into account the income of Rs. 3040/- of the deceased only on the ground that his appointment letter regarding his re-employment as Headmaster was not produced in evidence. In my opinion this omission on the part of the claimants could not be taken as a factor to disbelieve their stand regarding re-employment of Badan Singh and his income of Rs. 3040/- per month by way of salary therefrom. It is a matter of common knowledge that a retired teacher can conveniently get re-employment in some school or educational institution after his retirement. Once the fact of Badan Singh being reemployed as Head Master in a recognised school and getting a sum of Rs. 3040/- from that job stood proved on record by the statement of the President of the Managing Body of that school there was hardly any ground to doubt the stand of the claimants that Badan Singh was re-employed as Headmaster and earning the above amount by way of his salary. Therefore, keeping in view the totality of the circumstances, the dependency of the claimants on their father Badan Singh can fairly be taken at Rs. 2000/- per month after taking into account his salary from re-employment at Rs. 3040/- and pension in the sum of Rs. 1566/- per month. The amount of compensation after applying a multiplier of five as applied by the learned Tribunal, would thus come to Rs. 1,20,000/- i.e. Rs. 2000 x 12 x 5, for the death of Badan Singh. In other words, the appellants in the two appeals shall now be entitled to a total compensation of Rs. 1,70,000/- i.e. Rs. 50,000/- for the death of their mother Raj Pali and Rs. 1,20,000/- for the death of their father Badan Singh with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petitions till payment, minus the amount if any already received. The appeals stand disposed of accordingly. No costs.