PREM LATA ALFRAD Vs. MATA DIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Appeal is for enhancement of compensation of RS.1,05,000/ - awarded in favour of the Appellant for having suffered injuries in a motor accident which occurred on 07.12.1987.

(2.) THE Appellant was employed as a Nursing In -charge in Hindu Rao Hospital. On 07.12.1987 after finishing her duty at about 2:00 P.M. she was proceeding to her home in Ashok Vihar. She alighted from the bus and boarded a cycle rickshaw for reaching her home. When she was crossing Premvari Bridge, the rickshaw was struck by a truck No.DEL -4649 which was being driven by the first Respondent in a rash and negligent manner. She fell down from the rickshaw and suffered grievous injuries including fracture pelvis, fracture right foot, dislocation of the right shoulder and injuries on right hip and cervical spine. Initially, she was removed to Hindu Rao Hospital, where she remained admitted from 07.12.1987 to 11.12.1987. She was then shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on 12.12.1983 and remained admitted there upto 17.12.1987. THE Appellant had to take leave for a period of about eight months. She was awarded a compensation of RS.1,05,000/ - which is tabulated hereunder: -

(3.) SECTION 168 of the Motor Vehicles Act provides for payment of just and fair compensation. In General Manager, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Trivandrum v. Susamma Thomas (Mrs.) and Ors, (1994) 2 SCC 176, the Supreme Court observed that the determination of the quantum must answer what contemporary society "would deem to be a fair sum such as would allow the wrongdoer to hold up his head among his neighbours and say with their approval that he has done the fair thing". The amount awarded must not be niggardly since the law values life and limb in a free society in generous scales. At the same time, a misplaced sympathy, generosity and benevolence cannot be the guiding factor for determining the compensation. The object of providing compensation is to place the claimant(s), to the extent possible, in almost the same financial position, as they were in before the accident and not to make a fortune out of misfortune that has befallen them. COMPENSATION TOWARDS PURCHASE OF MEDICINES AND TREATMENT