The New India Assurance Company Limited vs Smt. Vipin Bala @ Vipon Bala and Others

Vijender Singh Malik, J.—This is an appeal by New India Assurance Company Limited, the insurer challenging the assessment of compensation made by learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Panchkula (for short, "the Tribunal") vide award dated 9.5.2009. The claimants being parents of deceased Surinder Singh alias Sonu claimed by way of a petition brought u/s 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 compensation in a sum of Rs. 20,00,000/- for the death of their son. Vide the impugned award, learned Tribunal has assessed compensation in a sum of Rs. 7,97,000/- and allowed the same to the claimants with interest at the rate of 9% per annum. Surinder Singh alias Sonu had been 20 years old, a student of second year in Electrical and Communication diploma at Lovely Institute, Jalandhar. He was promising son of the claimants.

The aforesaid personal particulars of the deceased have been denied by the respondents. They have also denied the claimants to be entitled to Rs. 20.00 lacs as compensation for the death of their son in the aforesaid accident.

Framing issues and taking evidence of the parties, learned Tribunal held the accident to have been an outcome of rash and negligent driving of the vehicle by respondent No. 1. Though, the deceased was claimed to be a second year student in Electrical and Communication diploma, yet it was not found to be proved for the reason that no documentary evidence was led for the same. The deceased was taken to be a 10+2 pass. His income was taken at Rs. 9,000/- per month and applying a cut of 1/3rd thereto, learned Tribunal found a sum of Rs. 72,000/- as annual dependency of the claimants. Learned Tribunal adopted the multiplier of 11 and adding a sum of Rs. 5,000/- thereto, a sum of Rs. 7,97,000/- has been awarded as compensation.

Learned counsel for the appellant has contended that the claimants had been the parents and their dependency on their son should have been taken at one half of the income of the deceased. According to him, the compensation has, therefore, been wrongly assessed taking the dependency of the claimants at 2/3rd of the income of the deceased.

Learned counsel for respondents No. 1 and 2 has submitted, on the other hand, that the claimants are the parents of the deceased and in the presence of his parents, their son could not be expected to spend more than 1/3rd on himself. He has further submitted that even the multiplier has been taken wrongly. He has submitted that the age of the mother of the deceased had been 44 years and the multiplier should be governed by the age of the mother and it should be 14.

Though, father is not strictly a dependent of the deceased son, even if he is taken to be dependent, the dependency of the claimants would not be more than 50% of the income of the deceased. The dependency would, thus, have to be decided by taking it as one half of the income of the deceased. However, the multiplier should be governed by the age of the mother and the same being 44, it would be 14 as per the decision of Hon''ble Supreme Court of India in Smt. Sarla Verma and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another 2009 (3) RCR (Civil) 77.

Though, nothing is argued before me regarding the income of the deceased, the deceased had not been a student of 10+2, but he had already passed the same and there is no reason for discarding the statement of the claimant that her son was a student of 2nd year Electrical and Communication diploma course. The income of a promising boy, as Surinder Singh @ Sonu had been, has been rightly taken at Rs. 9,000/- per month. Applying a cut of 1/2 to it, the monthly dependency of the claimants comes to Rs. 4,500/- which comes to Rs. 54,000/- as annual dependency on multiplying by 12. Therefore, the annual dependency of the claimants is Rs. 54,000/-. As the relevant multiplier in this case is 14, multiplying the annual dependency with 14, the claimants are found to have lost a sum of Rs. 7,56,000/- in the death of their son. Adding to it a sum of Rs. 10,000/- in the name of expenses on cremation etc., I find a sum of Rs. 7,66,000/- as compensation payable to the claimants. Consequently, the appeal succeeds and is allowed reducing the compensation assessed by the Tribunal from Rs. 7,97,000/- to Rs. 7,66,000/- which shall be paid with interest and subject to the other terms as settled by learned Tribunal in his award.