KARAMJIT SINGH Vs. SUBASH CHAND AND ANR.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Tribunal has assessed the compensation at Rs. 1 lakh in a case where the claimant had injuries that had resulted in shortening of leg by 2". Dr. Ashok Khurana and Dr. Bikram Banta had examined the claimant, who had certified him to be permanently disabled assessing the same as 60%. As regards the nature of injuries which he had suffered, they were fairly prodigious. He had injuries from crown to toe and they are reproduced as under:

(2.) The doctor had given evidence to the effect that he was operated twice, once on 07.12.1987 and again on 10.12.1987 when an internal fixation was done for the fracture of shaft of right femur. It was also in evidence that steinmels was inserted above the right ankle and he was under treatment for three months. Considering the nature of injuries and the extensive treatment that he had undergone, the Tribunal had awarded Rs. 35,000/ -for pain and suffering. The assessment for pain and suffering involves certain subjective assessment and I have attempted to homogenize the approach by awarding in prior 2000 cases Rs. 5,000/ -for each fracture and Rs. 2,500/ -for every surgical intervention in Madan Lal Papneja v. State of Haryana and others in FAO No. 422 of 1993, decided on 12.11.2010. Rs. 35,000/ -conforms to the formula that I have adopted and I will, therefore, make no modification.

(3.) Although the claimant had contended that he had spent about Rs. 80,000/90,000/ -towards medical expenses, the Tribunal awarded Rs. 15,000/ -. If there was some basis for enhancement through medical bills, I would uphold the claim for enhancement under these heads. In the absence of any new materials, I will not substitute my own reasoning for the Tribunal's wisdom. I will let it continue. The three months of hospitalization treatment and immobilization occurring through fractures and internal fixature, he should have suffered loss of income, which I will estimate for three months @ Rs. 2,500/ -and determine the same at Rs. 7,500/ -. I would also provide for attendant charges and transportation for the said period another Rs. 5,000/ -and provide a further sum of Rs. 2,500/ -for extra diet. In all, this will make an additional amount of Rs. 15,000/ -. The Tribunal had provided for Rs. 50,000/ -as permanent disability which I would understand as the compensation for the inconvenience and the loss of amenities caused to him on account of impediment of the movement of the lower limb and the shortening of his limb that he had to carry through for the rest of his life.