ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO Vs. LEELAVATI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ORIENTAL Insurance Co. Ltd. the appellant herein aggrieved of the order passed by the learned Single Judge dated 8. 1. 1998 in S. B. Civil Misc. Appeal No. 618/91, has filed the present appeal with an obvious prayer to set aside the said order.

(2.) BRIEF facts of the case, in so far as the same are relevant for the only contention raised on behalf of the appellant, reveal that Smt. Leelavati and her two major sons Hari Shanker and Ganpat Sharma claimed compensation on account of death of Ramgopal, their husband and father respectively, who died in an accident. Learned Tribunal determined the age of the deceased as 55 years at the time of accident and according to Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, applied multiplier of `5'. The Tribunal held that the income of the deceased was Rs. 2290/- per month and he was getting bonus also of Rs. 2906/-, his total income being Rs. 30,794/ -. The claimants were awarded a compensation to the tune of Rs. 1,00,500/ -. Aggrieved, they filed appeal which was disposed of by the learned Single Judge vide the impugned judgment. The appeal preferred by the claimants was partly allowed and they were held entitled to compensation to the tune of Rs. 2,71,352/ -. Learned Single Judge taking into consideration future prospects and increase in income of the deceased, held that higher gross in come was required to be estimated. For his aforesaid finding learned Single Judge relied upon a decision of the Supreme court in G. M. K. S. R. T. C. vs. S. Susamma Thomas (1994 ACJ 1 (SC)) and the amount representing 50% was added to the existing amount for calculating the estimated gross income of the deceased. The gross income of the deceased was thus calculated at Rs. 46,191/- per annum and taking 1/3rd on account of personal expenses of the deceased, dependency was worked out at Rs. 30,794/- per annum. Applying multiplier of `8', compensation was assessed at Rs. 2,46,352/ -. An amount of Rs. 15,000/- was added as compensation for the loss of love and consortium to the wife, and a further sum of Rs. 10,000/- was added for the loss of fatherly affection, to the two children of the deceased.