SHANTA SHARMA Vs. BISHAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been filed against the judgment and award of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, New Delhi dated 27.02.2002 passed in Suit No. 693/2001.

(2.) Brief facts leading to the filing of the present appeal are that one Shri B.D. Sharma aged 52 years died in a motor vehicular accident on 08.07.1992. A Claim Petition claiming compensation of 10,00,000/- from the owner, driver and insurer of the offending vehicle was filed by the widow, son and married daughter of the deceased. The learned Claims Tribunal by its award dated 27.02.2002 awarded a total compensation of 6,80,000/- to the Appellants/claimants payable by the Respondent No. 3-insurer alongwith interest thereon at the rate of 9% per annum.

(3.) The learned Claims Tribunal, after taking into account all the facts and circumstances, assessed the income of the deceased for the purpose of computing the loss of dependency suffered by the Appellants to be in the sum of 7,500/- per month or 90,000/- per annum. The said income of the deceased was reduced by one-third, being the personal and living expenses of the deceased, thereby arriving at a sum of 60,000/-. To augment this multiplicand, the Claims Tribunal applied the multiplier of 11, as provided in the Second Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for the age group of victims between 50 and 55 years. The loss of dependency of the Appellants was, thus, assessed by the Claims Tribunal to be in the sum of 6,60,000/- (that is 60,000/- x 11). In addition to this, the Claims Tribunal awarded a sum of 20,000/- towards non-pecuniary damages, including loss of consortium and loss of love and affection. Thus, the Claims Tribunal awarded a total compensation to the Appellants in the sum of 6,80,000/- alongwith interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the petition, that is, 17.11.1992, till the date of realisation.