AMARSINH PUNJABHAI PARMAR Vs. ASHOKKUMAR C PATEL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal under section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act is at the instance of the claimants in a proceeding under section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act and is directed against an award dated 3rd February 2007 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Main) Anand in MAC Petition No.5164 of 2006 (old No.1720 of 2002) thereby disposing of the proceeding by awarding a sum of Rs.2,67,000/ - with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the application till realisation. Being dissatisfied, the claimants have come up with the present appeal.

(2.) IT may not be out of place to mention here that in spite of service, neither the Insurance Company nor the owner or driver of the offending vehicle has come up with any appeal nor have they filed any cross objection in this appeal. Therefore, the only question in this appeal is whether the amount awarded by the Tribunal was the just amount of compensation.

(3.) IN the claim -application, according to the claimants, the victim was a married lady being the wife and mother of the claimants respectively and was aged 46 years. She, according to the claim - application, used to earn Rs.6000/ - a month by doing farming and cattle breeding. The Tribunal below, however, did not accept the said contention and decided to treat the income of the victim to be Rs.18,000/ - per annum. For prospective income, it added further 50% and thereafter deducting one -third for personal expenditure yearly prospective income was found to be Rs.18,000/ -. The Tribunal applied the multiplier of 14 and arrived at a figure of Rs.2,52,000/ - and in addition further granted Rs.15,000/ - under conventional heading. Thus, the total amount of compensation awarded was Rs.2,67,000/ -. After hearing Mr Modi appearing on behalf of the appellant and after going through the materials on record, I find that at least it has been established that the victim was involved in agricultural work and cattle breeding. She was aged 46 years. The accident occurred in 2002. Such being the position, it was the duty of the Tribunal to treat the income of the lady to be at least Rs.3000/ - a month, as pointed out by the Supreme Court in the case of Lata Wadhwa vs. State of Bihar and Ors., 2001 8 SCC 197. In cases of housewives between the age group of 34 and 59 who were active in life, for the purpose of awarding of compensation the annual value of services rendered to the family should be treated as Rs.36,000/ -. Over and above, the Supreme Court in the case of Laxmidevi and Ors. vs. Mohammad Tabbar, 2008 12 SCC 165held that now -a -days even an unskilled labourer earns Rs.3000/ - a month. Such being the position, for an active lady doing agricultural work as well as giving services to the family, the Tribunal should have fixed the monthly contribution to Rs.3000/ - i.e. Rs.36,000/ - per annum. If we apply the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in Sarla Verms vs. Delhi Transport Corporation, 2009 6 SCC 121adding 30% as future income and thereafter deducting one -third, the annual prospective income will be Rs.31,200/ -. According to the claim -application, the victim was aged 42 years while in the post mortem report, it is stated that the victim should be between 40 and 45 years. Therefore, I propose to treat the age of the victim to be 45 years and by applying the multiplier of 14, the amount will come to Rs.4,36,800/ - to which further sum of Rs.20,000/ - should be added as conventional amount. Thus, the total amount will be Rs.4,56,800/ -. The claimants will also be entitled to get interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the application till actual payment. Thus, by virtue of this order, the claimants will be entitled to additional amount of Rs.1,89,800/ -. The Insurance Company is directed to pay the additional amount by virtue of this enhanced award within two months from today before the Tribunal. The Tribunal is directed to release the amount in favour of the claimants, upon proper verification, by account payee cheque in accordance with its award.