ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED Vs. RASHIKLAL AMBALAL PATEL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave to delete respondents Nos. 4 and 5. Admit. Service of which is waived by learned Advocate, Mr. S. S. Panesar for respondents No. 1, 2 and 3. Upon joint request and in view of the urgency in the matter, the Appeal is taken up today for final hearing.

(2.) The amount of compensation of Rs. 5, 57, 000/- awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Main), Baroda in M.A.C. Petition No. 776 of 1993 on 22-2-2000 for the premature untimely cutting short of life of a young, unmarried boy in an accident, which occurred, at 8.30 p.m., on 3-4-1993 near Government Hospital, Savli-Baroda Road in the District of Baroda of account of dash of motor cycle on which he was going with the Truck No. GTC 4431, is exorbitant and excessive which requires our interference in exercise of our power under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act ("Act" for short), is the sole question which is raised in this appeal, at the instance of Original Opponent, the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. Deceased Ajaykumar was proceeding on a motor cycle along with his friend Amit as a pillion rider and was going towards Baroda on the day of accident. He was young, hale and hearty. He had sustained serious injuries and he succumbed to the same. The quantification of damage includes past and prospective work loss and the value of dependency on account of premature death of a young person. The main anxiety of the Tribunal, in a case like the one on hand, is to see that what dependency would have been, had there not been any accident in question in terms of money. In other words, the dependency value has to be ascertained and in order to reach a global sum towards the compensation appropriate multiplier has to be applied to the multiplicand.

(3.) Deceased Ajaykumar was doing contract work of construction work in the name and style of "Ajay Builders", at Godhra and he was earning Rs. 60.000/- per year from the said business. In fact, he had also taken contract of his own. He was also literate. He had undergone computer courses. Deceased Ajaykumar was 24 years of age and he was unmarried and this aspect is not in dispute.