MANJU DEVI Vs. SHANKAR SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Having lost a child of seven years in a vehicular accident, the appellants had filed a claim petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-I, Jaipur Metropolitan, Jaipur. By award dated 20.5.2013, the learned Tribunal had granted an award of Rs.2,00,000/- to the appellants. However, the appellants have filed the present appeal for enhancement.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that on 26.10.2011, Deepak ('the deceased' for short), was standing with his elder brother on the correct side of the road outside his house. Around 4.00 PM a mini bus, bearing registration No.RJ14-PA-4410, being driven rashly and negligently, came and hit both the children. Both the children sustained grievous injuries. But by the time Deepak was rushed to the hospital, he had expired. Therefore, the appellants filed a claim petition for Rs.20,60,000/-. In order to buttress their case, they examined a single witness, namely, Anandi Lal, appellant No.2, the father of the deceased, and submitted certain documents. After going through the oral and the documentary evidence, the learned Tribunal granted the compensation as aforementioned. Hence, this appeal.

(3.) Mr. Vinay Mathur, the learned counsel for the appellants, has contended that in the case of Kishan Gopal and Another v. Lala and Others, 2014 1 SCC 244 , the Apex Court had also dealt with a case of death of a ten years old child, namely, Tikaram. The Apex Court was of the opinion that even in the case of death of a child, the learned Tribunal must take his notional income into account while assessing the loss of dependency of the parents. Moreover, instead of taking the notional income as Rs.15,000/-, the Apex Court had taken the notional income as Rs.30,000/- considering the fact that the value of rupee has been declining over the years. Therefore, according to the learned counsel, the learned Tribunal was not justified in ignoring the notional income, and in giving a lump sum amount to the appellants.