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Judgment
Justice Deepak Gupta, J.—This appeal by the Insurance Company is directed against the judgment of a learned Single Judge of this Court, dated 8.5.2007, whereby the learned Single Judge upheld the award of the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-II, Mandi, dated 17.11.2004, whereby he awarded a sum of Rs. 10,76,040/- as compensation to the claimants. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that deceased Duni Chand was working as Sepoy in the Indian Army. He joined the Indian Army in the year 1995 and unfortunately died in an accident, which took place on 11.12.1997. The only dispute is with regard to the quantum of compensation. Normally, in writ petitions or in appeals arising out of writ petitions, this Court would not have gone in detail about the quantum of compensation, but, in view of the law laid down by the Apex Court in United India Insurance Company versus Shila Datta and others, (2011) 10 SCC 509, wherein the Apex Court has now clearly held that the Insurance Company is entitled, as a matter of right, to challenge the quantum of compensation, we have gone into this aspect of the matter.
The Tribunal took the income of the deceased at more than Rs. 9,000/- per month, which was totally erroneous and incorrect, and on this basis, awarded the amount of compensation. The Insurance Company challenged this award and the learned Single Judge found that the basic pay of deceased Duni Chand was Rs. 930/- per month. The learned Single Judge also took into consideration the fact that the salary in the Armed Forces had been revised and the revised pay scale was of Rs. 3020/- w.e.f. 1.1.1996 and taking into consideration the allowances, the salary could be taken at Rs. 4,000/- per month. Taking into consideration the future prospects, the total income was taken at Rs. 6,000/- per month and after deducting Rs. 1,000/- for personal expenses, the dependency was assessed at Rs. 5,000/- per month and the total compensation was assessed at Rs. 10,50,000/-.
Shri Ashwani K. Sharma, learned counsel for the Insurance Company, had urged that there is no material on record to show as what was the revised salary and what were the allowances. We had adjourned the matter and now Shri Ashwani Pathak, learned counsel for the claimants, has placed on record a copy of the notification issued by the Pay Commission Cell of the Army. As per this notification, the various other ranks of the Indian Army are divided into various groups and Sepoys have also been divided into five groups. The deceased Duni Chand was in Group D as per the statement of account submitted by the claimants before the Tribunal and the revised salary for Group D was Rs. 2945-55-3825 w.e.f. 1st January 1996 to 9th October, 1997. There is a note that Sepoys in Group C and D would be granted starting pay of Rs. 3,000/-. Thereafter, there has been another revision of pay scales w.e.f. 10th October, 1997, but here the Groups are shown as X, Y and Z. Since there is no co-relation between these groups, we are taking the middle Group Y, which covers Groups C and D and as per this notification, the pay scale of Group Y is Rs. 3250-70-4300. Therefore, roughly the deceased would be getting Rs. 3300-3400 per month as salary. There is no proof of other allowances.
In Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, , the Apex Court laid down as a rule of thumb that if a person is in earnest employment, 50% of his salary should be added to the actual salary income of the deceased and if this is done in the present case, approximately, the salary of deceased Duni Chand works out between Rs. 5,000-5,100/-.
This Court can consider the fact that an Army Jawan gets free ration and accommodation. This, however, does not mean that the Army Jawan does not spend any amount on himself. He buys his own clothes, has to spend money on other curricular activities and, therefore, keeping in view all these factors, it would not be unreasonable to hold that an Army Jawan would spend Rs. 1,000/- per month on his own self. Applying this formula, the dependency would work out to Rs. 4,000/- per month or Rs. 48,000/- in a year. In this case, the deceased was 25 years of age, the widow is about 23 years and there is young minor child. On the other hand, one of the claimants is the mother, who was aged about 62 Years.
Keeping all these factors into consideration, the appropriate multiplier would be 17, as applied by the learned Single Judge and the compensation, on account of loss of dependency, works out to Rs. 8,16,000/-. In addition thereto, Rs. 20,000/- is awarded for loss of consortium and Rs. 14,000/- for funeral expenses and loss of estate and therefore, the total compensation works out to Rs. 8,50,000/-.
In view of the above discussion, the award of the learned Tribunal is modified and the compensation is reduced from Rs. 10,76,070/- to Rs. 8,50,000/-, alongwith interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till payment/deposit of the amount. The amount is apportioned as follows:
Smt. Tara Devi, mother of the deceased
Rs. 1,50,000/-
Puneet Thakur, Minor child of the deceased:
Rs. 3,50,000/-
Smt. Meena Devi, widow of the deceased
Rs. 3,50,000/-
The appeal stands disposed of accordingly.