ARUNA DEVI Vs. ANIL KUMAR SHARMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been filed by the claimant for enhancement of compensation.

(2.) The Tribunal by the impugned order and award dated 27.9.2003 awarded a sum of Rs. 2,85,000 only. The deceased Manoj Singh aged about 24 years was working as driver of a truck bearing registration No. WB 37-2244. The truck met with an accident and deceased succumbed to injuries. That claimant's case was that the deceased was getting Rs. 4,500 per month from the owner of the truck. The owner of the truck also appeared before the court as PW 4 and he deposed that the deceased was getting only Rs. 3,000 per month. The Claims Tribunal recorded a finding that the accident took place in 1999 and taking his daily earning at Rs. 80 per day for 26 days in a month, the income comes to Rs. 2,100 per month. Taking this amount the Tribunal assessed compensation at Rs. 2,85,600.

(3.) Mr. Alok Lal, the learned counsel for the insurance company supported the finding of the Claims Tribunal by submitting that in the year 1999 the minimum wage was Rs. 1,100 per month. The submission of the learned counsel has no leg to stand. It is rather surprising that on the one hand claimant claimed that deceased was getting Rs. 4,500 per month and on the other hand the owner of the vehicle deposed that the deceased was getting Rs. 3,000 but the Tribunal travelled beyond the pleadings and evidence and erroneously and illegally assessed the compensation on presumption that because of minimum wages during the relevant time the monthly income of the deceased was Rs. 2,100. The finding of the Tribunal and the procedure adopted by him in assessing the compensation is absolutely against the law. Even we accept the cases of the owner of the vehicle that deceased was getting only Rs. 3,000 per month and if we take this amount as monthly earnings of the deceased then the monthly dependency comes to Rs. 2,000 and the annual dependency comes to Rs. 24,000. Taking the age of the deceased as 24 years and minimum number of years of purchase as 16 years then the compensation amount should be at least Rs. 3,84,000. If we take 17 years of purchase as per Schedule this amount comes to Rs. 4,08,000. However, we take a round figure of Rs. 3,90,000 to be just and reasonable compensation which ought to have been awarded to claimantappellant.