CHHAGANBHAI VITTHALBHAI PATEL Vs. DIVISIONAL CONTROLLER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present First Appeal, under Sec. 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, is preferred by appellant - insurance company, being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgment and award dtd. 14/3/2012 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Aux.), Vadodara in Motor Accident Claim Petition No.1501 of 1996, by which the Tribunal has awarded Rs.1,95,000.00 with 7.5% per annum interest to the claimants - parents, by holding Opponent - S.T. Corporation liable.

(2.) Brief facts of the case are as under :

(3.) Learned advocate Mr. Hiren Modi for the appellant - claimant has submitted that the Tribunal has committed an error in calculating the amount of compensation in view of the various judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of : (i) National Insurance Company Limited versus Pranay Shethi reported in (2017) 16 SCC 680 (ii) Magma General Insurance Company Limited versus Nanu Ram and others reported in (2018) 18 SCC 130 and (iii) New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Somwati and others, reported in 2020 (9) SCC 644. He has submitted that deceased - Sumitraben was aged about 18 years and doing tailoring and labour work and was earning Rs.100.00 per day. She was unmarried and the claimants are the parents of the deceased. The claim was for compensation of Rs.6.00 lakhs. He has submitted that the Tribunal has committed an error by not granting full amount of compensation as prayed for. He has submitted that the Tribunal has erred in not considering the future prospective income even if we consider Rs.1,500.00 as monthly income, which is just and proper, then also, the prospective income is required to be awarded more. He has fairly submitted that the the Tribunal has deducted 1/3rd income towards her personal expense, which should be 1/2 as she was unmarried and therefore, he has conceded that, the same is required to be reduced. He has further submitted that the Tribunal has erred in considering the multiplier of 15 only, which should be 18 as per the decision of Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Pranay Shethi (supra). He has submitted that the Tribunal has erred in granting Rs.10,000.00 towards loss of estate and Rs.5,000.00 towards funeral expenses, which should be Rs.40,000.00 towards loss of estate and Rs.15,000.00 towards funeral expenses in view of the decision of Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Magma General Insurance Company Limited (supra) and accordingly, he has prayed to enhance the amount.