The High Court allowed the appeal in part, setting aside the trial court's attribution of 20% negligence to the deceased and enhancing the compensation to Rs. 15,86,400/- including loss of consortium.
Enhanced compensation of Rs. 5,94,700/- with interest at 6% p.a. awarded in addition to the original amount of Rs. 9,91,700/-.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
HSJ: 21.11.2022
JUDGMENT
IN
MISCELLANEOUS FIRST APPEAL NO. 5670 OF 2018
(MV-D)
BVK
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 21ST DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2022
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE HANCHATE SANJEEVKUMAR MISCELLANEOUS FIRST APPEAL NO. 5670 OF 2018 (MV-D)
BETWEEN:
AGED ABOUT 51 YEARS,
AGED ABOUT 46 YEARS,
AGED ABOUT 19 YEARS,
R/AT VATTALAMAKKI VILLAGE, KOPPA TALUK KOPPA, CHIKKAMAGALURU KUDEGUNDI, KARNATAKA -577 127.
…APPELLANTS
(BY SRI. KALPANA P V., ADVOCATE)
AND:
M/S MAGMA HDI GEN INS CO LTD NO.706, 2ND FLOOR 2ND STAGE, 9TH CROSS WEST OF CHORD ROAD, BASVESHWARANAGAR BANGALORE-560086
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
…RESPONDENTS
(BY SRI. A.N. KRISHNA SWAMY, ADVOCATE FOR R1)
MFA FILED U/S 173(1) OF MV ACT AGAINST THE JUDGMENT AND AWARD DATED 20/04/2018, PASSED IN MVC NO.786/2017, ON THE FILE OF THE MEMBER, MACT, XVI ADDITIONAL JUDGE, COURT OF SMALL CAUSES, BENGALURU (SCCH-14), PARTLY ALLOWING THE CLAIM PETITION FOR COMPENSATION AND SEEKING ENHANCEMENT OF COMPENSATION.
THIS APPEAL, COMING ON FOR ORDERS, THIS DAY, THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
JUDGMENT
This appeal is filed by the claimant under Section 173(1) of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as 'MV Act' for short), challenging the judgment and award
passed in MVC No.786/2017 dated 20.04.2018 by the
Member, MACT, XVI Additional Judge, Court of Small Causes, Bengaluru seeking enhancement of the
compensation.
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
about 8:30 p.m. deceased was riding his motorcycle bearing reg.no.KA-02-HS-0380 from NTTF towards 14th Cross near Srisaila Weigh Bridge, Brundavana Bus Stop, Peenya Industrial Area, slowly and cautiously. At that time, the driver of the tempo traveler bearing registration No.KA-04-AB-9360 drove the same in a rash and negligent manner dashed against the motorcycle. Due to which, the rider of the motorcycle fell down and wheel of the tempo traveler ran over his head and went ahead and dashed to the wall of the Srisaila Weigh Bridge. The rider of the motorcycle died on the spot. Claiming compensation for the untimely death of their family member, the claimants have filed claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
examined Senior Manager as RW-1 and got marked Ex.R1 to R3 whereas, B extract register is marked as Ex.R4 with consent.
record, allowed the petition in part, and awarded a compensation of Rs.12,39,200/- as follows:
Loss of Dependency : Rs. 12,09,600/Transportation of dead body and : Rs. 15,000/funeral expenses Loss of estate : Rs. 15,000/- TOTAL : Rs. 12,39,600/-
to the cause of alleged accident as he was riding the motor
cycle without having a valid driving licence as on the date of accident. Therefore, it held that deceased contributed 20% negligence for the cause of the accident. Hence, it
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
awarded 80% of the total compensation amount of Rs.12,39,600/-. which would be Rs.9,91,680/and
rounded off to Rs.9,91,700/- along with interest at 9% per annum from the date of petition till the date of deposit. The Tribunal held respondents No.1 and 2 therein, are jointly and severally liable to pay the compensation.
appellants-claimants and the learned counsel for respondent No.1 – insurance company and perused the materials on record.
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
submits that the Tribunal is justified in passing the impugned judgment and award and there is no ground for enhancement. That the compensation amount as awarded by the Tribunal is sufficient and adequate.
Rash and Negligence Aspect:
tempo traveler on 19.09.2016 at 8:30 p.m. The factum of accident is not disputed. The deceased was driving the motorcycle from North to South direction. Ex.P.1 - FIR with complaint, Ex.P.2 - charge sheet, Ex.P.5 - Spot Panchanama and Ex.P.6 - copy of sketch. Charge sheet is filed against the driver of the tempo traveler by the police investigating officer. The evidence on record above stated particularly, spot sketch Ex.P.6 and spot panchanama Ex.P.5 reveals that the deceased was riding motorcycle
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
from North to South at the extreme left side of the road. The driver of the tempo traveler was driving the vehicle from South to North i.e., opposite to motorcycle and by coming extreme wrong side of the road hit the rider of the motorcycle and subsequently hit the Srisaila Weigh Bridge.
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
Wherein in the present case it is proved that the driver of the tempo traveler is completely rash and negligent in driving the tempo traveler and causing accident, therefore, he is totally responsible for the accident.
Quantum of compensation
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
certificate in this regard is produced without examining employer or author of the certificate. Therefore, on the above circumstances, notional income of Rs.9,500/- p.m. is taken into consideration as income of the deceased as per Karnataka State Legal Services Authority. The deceased is bachelor therefore 50% of the income is deducted towards personal and living expenses. 40% need to be added towards loss of future prospects in life. The appropriate multiplier is 18. Therefore, the loss of dependency is quantified as:
9,500 + 3800 (40% of 9,500) x 50/100 x 18 x 12 = 14,36,400/-
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
justified and kept in tact.
compensation of Rs.15,86,400/- as under:
Loss of Dependency : Rs. 14,36,400/Transportation of dead body and : Rs. 15,000/funeral expenses Loss of estate : Rs. 15,000/Loss of consortium : Rs. 1,20,000/- TOTAL : Rs. 15,86,400/-
Accordingly, I proceed to pass the following:
ORDER
MFA No. 5670 of 2018
Sd/JUDGE
BVK
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the trial court correctly attributed 20% negligence to the deceased for lack of driving license.
Whether the quantum of compensation awarded should be enhanced to account for loss of dependency and consortium.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd vs Nanu Ram Alias Chuhru RamApplied¶83
Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd vs Nanu Ram Alias Chuhru Ram
1 provisions across 1 enactments
SRI.B.G.CHANDRU
SMT HEMAVATHI
BHAGAYALAKSHMI
THE MANAGER, M/S MAGMA HDI GEN INS CO LTD
SRI MANJUNATH
HANCHATE SANJEEVKUMAR
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
