UNITED INDIA INSURANCE CO. LTD. Vs. G. INDURU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is preferred by the appellant-insurance company, who is respondent No.2 before the Court below, assailing the judgment of the District Judge, Adilabad in OP.No.760 of 2002 dated 23.03.2004 on the grounds that the Court below, having observed that the trailer ran over the deceased, ought to have directed the claimants to implead the owner and its insurer by mulcting the entire liability on them and ought to have exonerated the appellant from its liability having seen that the appellant had not undertaken to indemnify the liability of the trailer; the Court below ought to have taken the net salary for calculating the loss of dependency but it took the gross salary of the deceased.

(2.) Heard both the counsel.

(3.) At the hearing, counsel for the appellant, though initially contended that the judgment of the Court below is questioned by him on the ground the Court below took the gross salary of the deceased, who was stated to be an employee in Singareni Collieries, does not take his argument further on the said aspect by fairly conceding that as on the date of deciding the OP by the Court below, the law was that net salary has to be taken but the law is well settled now that only statutory deductions can be made from the gross salary of the deceased and the deduction made in that manner may not make much difference in the compensation amount under that head. On the aspect of liability, the counsel contends that the accident had occurred involving only the trailer, as the evidence of the claimants is that the deceased was ran over by the trailer and contends that since the trailer is not insured with the insurance company and it is not the tractor, which ran over the deceased, the insurance company cannot be mulcted with any liability.