Allowed

Gopalakrishnan v. the National Insurance Company Ltd.

Kerala HC14 Jul 2021MACA/1928/2017

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Appellants appealed against an award by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal regarding compensation for a motor accident death. The High Court allowed the appeal, enhancing compensation for loss of dependency, loss of consortium, and funeral expenses based on the ratio in National Insurance Company v. Pranay Sethi and Sarla Verma cases.

What did the court decide?

Award enhanced to Rs. 11,77,732 with interest from date of petition; insurer directed to deposit within two months.

Gopalakrishnan Vs the National Insurance Company Ltd. — Motor Accident Claims | Kerala HC (2021)

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M.A.C.A No.1928/2017 1

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. BADHARUDEEN WEDNESDAY, THE 14TH DAY OF JULY 2021 / 23RD ASHADHA, 1943 MACA NO. 1928 OF 2017 AGAINST THE AWARD DATED 3.6.2015 IN OPMV 1132/2012 OF MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, PALAKKAD

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APPELLANTS:PETITIONERS

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1 GOPALAKRISHNAN M V, AGED 62 YEARS S/O. PARANGODAN, THOTTATHIL VEEDU, KONGADU PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA - 678 631, NOW RESIDING AT 261/3, S.K.NAGAR, B.K.PUTHUR,KUNIYANPUTHUR, COIMBATORE, TAMIL NADU - 641 008.

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2 DHANYA. G, AGED 30 YEARS D/O. GOPALAKRISHNAN, AGED 30 YEARS, THOTTATHIL VEEDU, KONGADU PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA - 678 631, NOW RESIDING AT 261/3, S.K. NAGAR, B.K.PUTHUR, KUNIYANPUTHUR, COIMBATORE, TAMIL NADU - 641 008.

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3 DIVYA. G, AGED 27 YEARS D/O. GOPALAKRISHNAN. M.V., AGED 27 YEARS, THOTTATHIL VEEDU,KONGADU PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA - 678 631, NOW RESIDING AT 261/3, S.K. NAGAR, B.K.PUTHUR, KUNIYANPUTHUR, COIMBATORE, TAMIL NADU - 641 008. BY ADVS. SRI.BINOY VASUDEVAN SMT.K.J.ANITHA

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RESPONDENT : 3RD RESPONDENT

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THE NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD KOLLANNUR DEVASSY SMARK BUILDING, ROUND EAST, THRISSUR - 678 631.

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BY ADVS. SRI.GEORGE CHERIAN (SR.) SMT.K.S.SANTHI THIS MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 01.07.2021, THE COURT ON 14.07.2021 DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

M.A.C.A No.1928/2017

A.BADHARUDEEN, J .

M.A.C.A No.1928 of 2017

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Dated this the 14^th day of July, 2021

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The petitioners, who are the husband and two daughters respectively of the deceased, seek enhancement of compensation granted by the M.A.C.T, Palakkad as per award dated 3.6.2015 in O.P(MV) No.1132/2012. The respondents before the Tribunal are arrayed as the respondents herein.

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2. The short facts of the case:

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The claim for compensation is made by the husband and two adult daughters of forty eight years old Kunjulakshmi, who died in a motor accident that occurred on 19.4.2011 at 6.50 a.m. The bus in which she was travelling went out of the control of its driver and capsized at Thottupalam on Kongad-Pathiripala road. She suffered fatal injuries in the accident and succumbed to them on 26.4.2012 while undergoing treatment in a hospital. Alleging rashness and negligence of the bus driver, the petitioners have preferred this claim for compensation against him, the owner and insurer of the vehicle.

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M.A.C.A No.1928/2017 3

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As against the claim of Rs14,00,000/-, the Tribunal, by the impugned award, directed payment of a total amount of Rs.9,06,000/with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of petition as per the details annexed with the impugned award, which I extract below:

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Sl.	Head of claim	Amount awarded
No.
1	Medical expenses	Rs. 90,000.00
2	Loss of love and affection	Rs. 10,000.00
3	Loss of consortium	Rs. 1,00,000.00
4	Loss of estate	Rs. 5,000.00
5	Loss of dependency/economic benefits	Rs. 6,76,000.00 (52000 X 13)
6	Funeral expenses	Rs. 25,000.00
	Total	Rs. 9,06,000.00

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While canvassing enhancement, the learned counsel for the appellants/petitioners submitted that the Tribunal failed to add 25% of the income while assessing loss of dependency as held in National Insurance Company Limited v. Pranay Sethi and Ors. [(2017) 16 SCC 680]. This is a case where the deceased was aged 48 years at the time of accident. Going by the ratio of Pranay Sethi' s case ( supra ) this submission appears to be correct. Therefore, the learned counsel for the 3^rd respondent also not disputed the legal position. In view of the submission, the amount considered for assessing loss of dependency income would be : Rs.6500/- plus 6500/4 = Rs.8125/-. No other challenge is raised regarding multiplier or the deduction made towards

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M.A.C.A No.1928/2017 4

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the personal expenses. Therefore, the loss of dependency income is calculated as : Rs.(8125 minus 8125/3) X 12 X13 = Rs.9,27,732/-.

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Another challenge raised is that the petitioners are entitled

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to get loss of consortium @ Rs.40,000/- each following the ratio of Pranay Sethi' s case ( supra ). However, the Tribunal granted only Rs.1 lakh. The said submission also is correct in view of the legal proposition settled in Pranay Sethi' s case ( supra ). Therefore, the petitioners are entitled to get Rs.1,20,000/- under this head. Out of which Rs.1 lakh was granted by the court below and the remaining Rs.20,000/- is entitled to be granted. The learned counsel for the insurance company submitted that Rs.25,000/- was granted under the head funeral expenses and as per Pranay Sethi' s case ( supra ), the said amount should be Rs.15,000/-. So Rs.10,000/- shall be reduced under the head funeral expenses . This contention is conceded by the learned counsel for the appellants/petitioners. Therefore, I am inclined to confine the amount under funeral expenses to Rs.15,000/-.

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Similarly the learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that only Rs.5,000/- is granted under the head loss of estate. I enhance the same to Rs.15,000/-. No dispute is raised as against the multiplier. In fact the multiplier applied by the Tribunal was based on Sarla Ver-

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M.A.C.A No.1928/2017 5 ma v. Delhi Transport Corporation [(2009) 6 SCC 121] and the same

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is correct.

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Therefore, the award is modified and enhancement grant-

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ed as follows:

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Sl. No.	Head of claim	Amount awarded	Modified award amount1
1	Medical expenses	Rs. 90,000.00	Rs. 90,000.00
2	Loss of love and affection	Rs. 10,000.00	Rs. 10,000.00
3	Loss of consortium	Rs. 1,00,000.00	Rs. 1,20,000.00
4	Loss of estate	Rs. 5,000.00	Rs. 15,000.00
5	Loss of dependency/economic benefits	Rs. 6,76,000.00 (52000 X 13)	Rs. 9,27,732.00
6	Funeral expenses	Rs. 25,000.00	Rs. 15,000.00
	Total	Rs. 9,06,000.00	Rs. 11,77,732.00