NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO LTD Vs. VAJUBEN PARBAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short, "the Act"), the insurer has called into question the amount of compensation awarded by award dated 18. 10. 2006 of M. A. C. T. , Bhuj in M. A. C. P. No. 407 of 1996.

(2.) THERE is no dispute about the facts that the deceased driver was killed in the vehicular accident at the age of 20 and his wages was claimed to be Rs. 2500/- per month + Rs. 50/- by way of daily allowance. As against the claim of the claimants restricted to Rs. 5,00,000/-, the Tribunal was pleased to award Rs. 6,34,500/- by way of compensation on the basis that the deceased would have spent only 1/3 of his income on himself and multiplier of 17 was required to be applied. It was, therefore, argued by learned counsel Mr. Sandeep Shah, appearing for the appellant, that the Tribunal had awarded excessive compensation, even in absence of concrete evidence of actual income of the deceased and without considering the age of the parents, who could be the dependents.

(3.) LEARNED counsel Mr. C. H. Vora, appearing for the original claimants, submitted that, although the calculation of compensation was fair and the shock and suffering of losing son in the prime of his youth could not be compensated in terms of money, the award was required to be suitably modified in view of the fact that, out of the parents of the deceased, the father has passed away during pendency of the claim petition itself and the mother and other claimants were required to avail of the amounts locked up in litigation. It was also fairly conceded that application of multiplier of 17 was on the higher side and could not be justified in view of the age of the claimants.