DEEKSHA TICKOO Vs. NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) MS . Deeksha Tickoo, on 2nd July, 1995 and her parents, Mr. Ashok Tickoo and Dr. Asha Tickoo while travelling, in a bus bearing Registration No. RJ -14/P -4504, from Jaipur to Udaipur, met with an accident at a place between Bhilwara and Chitoregarh resulting in death to Mr. Ashok Tickoo and Dr. Asha Tickoo and serious injuries to Ms. Deeksha Tickoo. The accident was result of rash and negligence driving by the driver of the passenger vehicle. Three claim petitions under Section 166, Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 were filed on 06.12.2000 in Motor Accident Claims Tribunal -two by Ms. Deeksha Tickoo through her grand mother, Umawati Tickoo and third jointly by Smt. Umawati Tickoo and Ms. Deeksha Tickoo, registered as 468 (Claims), 469 (Claims) and 470 (Claims). In claim petition bearing No. 468/claims, the petitioner sought compensation of Rs. 48,00,000/ - on account of death of her mother, Dr. Asha Tickoo. In claim petition No. 469/Claims, the petitioner prayed for an amount of Rs. 4,50,000/ - on account of medical treatment, expenditure incurred on her transportation to different hospitals and Plastic Surgery and on other such counts. In claim petition No. 470/claims, Smt. Umawati Tickoo and Ms. Deeksha Tickoo claimed compensation of Rs. 32,00,000/ - on account of death of Sh. Ashok Tickoo -son of Smt. Umawati Tickoo and father of Ms. Deeksha Tickoo. The three petitions set out all the details as regards academic qualification of the deceased, the salary drawn, promotional avenues available and future prospects of the deceased. The claim petitions were resisted by the Insurance company namely, National Insurance Company on the grounds set out in objections filed by the Company. The Tribunal took up all the three claims together and passed a common award on 17.02.2006. The Tribunal awarded an amount of Rs. 7.71/ - lac in claim petition No. 468 and an amount of Rs. 1,76, 750/ - in claim petition No. 469. The amount of compensation awarded in claim petition No. 470 is Rs. 15,31,800/ -in favour of Smt. Umawati Tickoo and Ms. Deeksha Tickoo. The compensation amount in all the three petitions is to carry interest @ 7.5% from the date of filing of claim petitions till its final realisation. The claimants as well as the Insurance company are aggrieved of the award.

(2.) SMT . Umawati Tickoo and Ms. Deeksha Tickoo are not satisfied with the amount of compensation awarded by the Tribunal on account of death of Mr. Ashok Tickoo and have filed Civil Ist Miscellaneous appeal registered as CIMA No. 138/2006. The appellant's case is that the Tribunal erroneously held the total income of the deceased as Rs. 9818/ - per month ignoring the perks and other benefits received by the deceased from his employer. The Tribunal is also said to have not taken into account the future prospects of the deceased. It is insisted that the emoluments of the deceased would have gone upto Rs. 25,622/ - in June 2005. The Tribunal, it is pleaded, failed to consider inclusion of loss of her parental love, expenditure incurred on transportation of dead bodies, loss on account of amenities of life and the pension the deceased would get on retirement, in the amount assessed as compensation payable to the appellants.

(3.) THE National Insurance Company with which the offending vehicle was insured, is also not satisfied with the compensation assessed and the award made by the Tribunal. The award according to the appellant is bad in law as the Tribunal has not properly appreciated the evidence brought on the file while assessing the compensation payable to the claimants. The Tribunal while making the award is said to have ignored the basic principle that the compensation is to be "just" and not excessive. The claimants, it is pleaded, are likely to collect the interest on the award amount much more than the loss actually suffered by them due to untimely death of Mr. Ashok Tickoo and Dr. Asha Tickoo. The Civil Ist. Misc. Appeal preferred by the Company is registered as CIMA No. 169/2000