STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. DUSHYANTBHAI NAGJIBHAI PATEL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) It is well-settled that a person injured by anothers wrong is entitled to general damages for non-pecuniary loss such as his pain and suffering past and future and his loss of amenity and enjoyment of life. Such damages constitute a conventional sum. A set of conventional principles have been evolved providing a provisional guide to the comparative severity of different injuries and indicating a bracket of damages into which a particular injury will currently fall. The particular circumstances of the plaintiff including his age and any unusual deprivation he may suffer is reflected in the actual amount of the award. The fall in the value of money leads to a continuing reassessment of these awards and to periodic reassessment of damages at certain key points (see Babu Mansa v. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation 19 G.L.R. 492).

(2.) We have pointed out above that in the claim petition damages under this head were assessed by the claimant himself at Rs. 1 10 0 However the actual total claim which included the claim under this head was ultimately substantially reduced. The Tribunal awarded a global amount of Rs. 10 0 under this head. It appears to us that the award under this head is grossly inadequate.

(3.) In Babu Mansas case we have considered the question with regard to assessment of damages under this head in great detail. The claimant in that case was a young boy aged 15 who was engaged in the manual work of excavating sand. The injuries sustained by him were multiple. His right leg was fractured. One of the arms was also fractured. A piece of bone from near the eye-brow was removed. A nail was inserted in the right leg which was shortened to the extent of 1/2 cm. There was limping wasting of thigh and fixed flexion deformity of hip. He was not in a position to sit cross-legged and could squat only with support. His normal gait was lost and the leg could not be bent. The permanent partial disability was assessed at 20%. In that case we held that if all those factors were borne in mind the claimant would be entitled to compensation in the sum of Rs. 15 0 under this head.