VINAY LUTHRA Vs. VERMA TRANSPORT COMPANY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appeal is for enhancement of the compensation for death of Sh. Vinjay Luthra and Smt. Swaraj Luthra (parents). Injuries had been suffered by the appellant himself. He has claimed compensation for the death of Manish Luthra, who was the brother of the appellant but no compensation was awarded therefor. The appellant suffered fracture in left leg and other injuries. He remained in hospital for 4 months. The tribunal awarded Rs. 4,68,000/- for the death of his both parents and Rs. 45,000/- to the appellant for injuries. It was held that claimant cannot be said to be dependent on his brother during life time of parents and so no compensation was given. I must observe at the outset that the petition has been wrongly drafted. To file a single petition for death of two persons and injury to the claimant, who claimed also as a legal representative is a wrong procedure. Objectively, claim for each one of deaths and injuries constitutes different cause of action and ought to be filed separately through independent petitions. Otherwise, the tribunal is bound to lump all the amounts under one head and there lurks a danger of erroneous assessment under one head by applying a uniform multiplier irrespective of the age of the respective deceased.

(2.) The deceased were parents and brother of the injured claimant. All the deceased were income tax assessees. The claimant was a 21 years B.Com student and had quite a few years to climb in his life before he could come on his own. The dependency of the son, even after majority on his parents would still have persisted in a typical Indian social and family life. The parents and brother would have mentored the claimant. He could not have been a dependent through out his life but the lack of guidance of his parents in the initial years of his youth is bound to impact his own skills of earning and maturity in life. For loss of love and affection and guidance from each of his parents and deprivation of companionship, I assess Rs. 2,50,000/- (1 lac each for parents and Rs. 50,000/- for loss of brother). As regards loss of dependency, I shall apply a multiplier of 11 and 13 for loss of father and mother respectively and estimate the contribution as 1/3 of father's earning and mother's earning. Taking the father's income at Rs. 58,440/- per year as found in the last Income Tax return before his death, I take the loss of dependency at Rs. 58440 x 1/3 x 11) Rs. 2,14,280/- and for death of mother, it shall be on the basis of his mother's income assessed at Rs. 42,000/-, I will make an escalation by 30% and assess the loss at ('54600 x 1/3 x 13) Rs. 2,36,600/-. As regards the loss of brother, it shall not be loss of dependency but loss of estate as a heir to his brother which I estimate on Rs. 50,000/-. I shall add Rs. 50,000/- as funeral expenses for all 3 persons. The total compensation for death shall be Rs. 8,00,880/-.

(3.) As regards claim for injuries, I add another Rs. 5,000/- for transportation, special diet and attendant charges for hospitalization for 2 fractures and also towards additional pain and suffering. This additional amount to the amount already assessed for Rs. 45,000/- shall aggregate to Rs. 60,000/- and the total amount shall be Rs. 8,00,880/-. The additional amount assessed through this award shall fetch 7.5% interest. The liability shall be on the insurer. The appeal is allowed to the above extent.