RELIANCE GENERAL INSURANCE CO LTD Vs. MERCY JACOB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Reliance General Insurance Company Limited, cochin, the third respondent in O.P. (MV) No.1230/2008 on the files of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Perumbavoor has come up in this appeal, challenging the correctness of the quantum of compensation determined by the Tribunal. The respondents have filed the said original petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, claiming compensation of Rs. 15, 00, 000/- with interest, on account of the death of the deceased, by name Yacob. He was the husband of the first respondent and father of respondents 2 and 3. The appellant insurance company disputed the claim and after considering the evidence on record, the Tribunal passed the impugned award granting a compensation of Rs. 17, 30, 900/- with 8% interest to the respondents herein. According to the appellant insurance company, the quantum of compensation granted under various heads of claim are exorbitant and disproportionate with the actual sufferings on account of the death of the deceased.

(2.) Heard the learned counsel for the appellant and the learned counsel for the respondents.

(3.) Learned standing counsel for the insurance company submitted that the amount determined under the head, loss of dependency, is exorbitant. The Tribunal went wrong in taking the gross salary for the purpose of computation of compensation. The Tribunal ought to have found that the employment was not a permanent employment. The Tribunal should have deducted 50% for the personal expenses of the deceased. Secondly, it is contended that the quantum of compensation granted under the heads, loss of consortium and funeral expenses, is also exorbitant, in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in National Insurance Company v. Pranay Sethi & others, 2017 5 KHC 350.