NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD Vs. CHANDRAWATI KUAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD the parties.

(2.) ON behalf of the appellant -Insurance Company a serious dispute has been raised only with regard to method of calculating the compensation and the amount derived on that basis. The appellant does not dispute the annual income of the deceased as calculated by the Tribunal nor there is any dispute with regard to the age of the deceased. The monthly income of the deceased has been found to be Rs. 1500/ - and on that basis annual dependecy appears to have been calculated without making any deduction towards the expenses of the deceased and thereafter, a multiplier of 35 has been chosen by the Tribunal by holding that the deceased was 35. years of age and the life expectancy of a healthy Indian should be taken as 70 years.

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the appellant has relied upon judgments of the Apex Court reported in AIR 1994 SC 1631 Raj Kumar Ram Versus State Of Bihar (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation vs. Susamma Thomas) and 1996(4) SCC 362 (U.P. State Road Transport Corporation and others vs. Trilok Chandra and others) and also judgments of this Court reported in 1991 (1) PLJR 400 and 837 to submit that while selecting the multiplier for computing money value of compensation, one of the relevant criteria is as to what return the compensation amount would fetch on annual basis if kept in fixed deposit in a bank or in financial institution. This principle finds mention in paragraph 17 of the judgment in the case of Susamma Thomas (supra) which has been approved in paragraph 12 of the judgment in the case of Trilok Chandra (supra) and followed by this Court in several judgments. On behalf of the appellant, it has further been submitted that the deceased was a Khalasi of 35 years of age and in such a situation, there was no substantial prospect of future promotion and that the dependants are his parents who are also of advance age and hence, multiplier should be selected keeping in view the age of the dependants.