NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD Vs. PUSPA RANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present appeal preferred under Section 173 of The Motor Vehicles act, 1988, arises out of an award dated 24th April, 2007 of the Motor accident Claims Tribunal, whereby the Tribunal awarded a sum of Rs. 13,26,000/- along with interest @ 7% per annum to the appellant from the date of filing of the petition.

(2.) THE brief facts are that the deceased Sh. Kailash Singh Rana, aged 26 years while driving his scooter No. DL 9s G 4738 on 30th December 2004 at about 7:30 pm dropped Ms. Ramni Taneja to her residence at A-34, defence Colony, New Delhi and after finishing off his duty he left for his residence situated at Bijwasan, Delhi. At around 8:30 pm, when he was approaching the turning point of the petrol pump opposite to Shiv Murti and was about to take a right turn towards Bijwasan, suddenly a TATA Tempo bearing registration No. HR 47 6169 driven by Sh. Shambhu Kumar Singh hit the scooter badly in a rash and negligent manner from behind due to which he fell on the ground and sustained fatal injuries and was removed to AIIMS hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The legal representatives of the deceased filed the claim petition on 12th May 2005 and the Tribunal passed the impugned award. Aggrieved with the award dated 24th April 2007, the appellant insurance company has preferred the instant appeal.

(3.) SH. S. L. Gupta, counsel for the appellant contended that the overtime of Rs. 1000 per month considered by the learned tribunal couldn't be treated as regular income of the deceased. It has been maintained by the counsel that the multiplier of 18 applied by the learned tribunal is on the higher side and the multiplier has not been reduced for uncertainty of life by the learned tribunal. Further, it has been urged by the counsel that the future prospects could not be considered as the deceased was in a private job working as a driver. The counsel lashed out that no negligence was proved by the respondents claimants and hence the finding of the tribunal is bad in view of the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Meena Variyal, 2007 (5) Scale 269.