BHISM SINGH Vs. MANGAL SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Childhood is a phase of life that everyone passes through. The greatest of men, lawyers, judges, jurists, scientists, inventors, men of medicine, to name the important few, amongst others, who not only have made changes to the world, but often changed the world itself, for the betterment of humanity, have, at some point of time, been infants, toddlers and children. If men of eminence, who did so much for the humanity in the productive years of their life, had died as children, would it be no loss to the dependents?; or still more, to the humanity? To the dependents, in many a case, it would be irremediable loss, and likewise, to the humanity. In the event an adult were to die in an accident during the productive years of his life, there are standards to assess the loss of dependency. It includes the loss flowing from future prospects. If a child dies, not just the dependents, but the entire humanity does not know what treasure might have been forsaken forever in his/her untimely exit from the world. To think, therefore, that a child's life, snuffed out in a motor accident, has to compensated by the award of a token for the damages or the loss to the child's dependents, is the product of a very pedantic and mediocre understanding. This appeal under Sec. 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 19881 is about the quantum of compensation that a mother and father of a twelve year old boy, the victim of a motor accident would be entitled to.

(2.) The facts giving rise to this appeal are these :

(3.) The appellants instituted a petition before the learned District Judge, Meerut (sitting as the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal) under Sec. 163-A of the Act of 1988. The petition was registered as M.A.C. No. 119 of 2010 on 2/2/2010. Summonses were issued to the respondents, returnable on 6/3/2010, fixing 17/3/2010 being the scheduled date for the framing of issues. The appellants claimed a total sum of Rs.10,01,000.00 in compensation under the following heads :