Partly allowed

The New India Assurance Co.Ltd., v. K.Murugananthavalli,(Died), (1) Kanagavalli Suresh @ Kayathri

Madras HC1 Dec 2023CMA(MD)/724/2019

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The Madras High Court Bench allowed an appeal filed by an Insurance Company against an award of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal. The court reduced the compensation quantum, fixing the multiplier at 5 based on the deceased's age of 65 years and recalculating net income after tax and personal expenses.

What did the court decide?

The compensation awarded by the Tribunal reduced from Rs. 1,14,35,056/- to Rs. 63,58,335/-, to be deposited by the appellant with interest.

The New India Assurance Co.Ltd., Vs K.Murugananthavalli,(Died), (1)… — Insurance | Madras HC (2023)

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

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DATED : 01.12.2023

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CORAM:

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THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE RMT.TEEKAA RAMAN and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.B.BALAJI

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019 and C.M.P.(MD)No.9262 of 2019

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The New India Assurance Company Limited, Represented by its Divisional Manager, Divisional Office, 41B, Victoriya Street, Thoothukudi, Thoothukudi District. ... Appellant/2^nd Respondent -vs-

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K.Murugananthavalli (died) 1.Kanagavalli Suresh @ Kayathri 2.Ganga Karthikeyan ... 1^st and 2^nd Respondents/Petitioners 3.Vishal Khatri ... 3^rd Respondent/1^st Respondent 4.Mubin Khan ... 4^th Respondent/3^rd Respondent 5.Imran Khan ... 5^th Respondent/4^th Respondent _____________ Page 1 of 8_

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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6.M/s.Magma HDI General Insurance Company Limited, Represented by its Manager, 25/1, Yaswant Niwas Road, 2^nd Floor, Indore-452 003, Madhya Pradesh State. ... 6^th Respondent/5^th Respondent

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PRAYER: Civil Miscellaneous Appeal has been filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, against the Judgment and Decree in M.C.O.P.No.445 of 2014, dated 02.11.2018 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Second Additional District Court, Tuticorin.

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For Appellant : Mr.J.S.Murali For Respondents : Mr.Rajiv Rufus for R1

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Mr.S.Srinivasa Raghavan for R2

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No Appearance for R3 to R5 Mr.N.Shyllapa Kalyan for R6

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JUDGMENT

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[Order of the Court was made by RMT.TEEKAA RAMAN, J.]

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This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is directed againt the Judgment and Decree in M.C.O.P.No.445 of 2014, dated 02.11.2018 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Second Additional District Court, Tuticorin.

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Page 2 of 8

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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The Insurance Company is the appellant herein. The Insurance Company

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of the offending vehicle has preferred this appeal on the point of quantum alone. The factum of the manner of the accident, rash and negligent on the part of the offending vehicle and the policy coverage with the appellant/Insurance company are not in dispute. Accordingly, the same is hereby confirmed.

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On the point of quantum of compensation, we heard both sides.

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The learned counsel for the appellant/Insurance Company would contend

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that on the date of the accident, the deceased had completed 65 years and therefore, the multiplier ought to be added is 5 not 7 as per ratio laid down in Sarla Verma's Case . He drew our attention to the admission of P.W.1 in cross examination and also to Ex.P.20 and Ex.P.13, and would contend that the income tax was not deducted and the award under the conventional head of “loss of love and affection” is excessive in terms of Pranay Sethi's case .

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Heard the learned counsel for the respondents/claim petitioners. He has fairly conceded that on the date of the accident, the deceased was aged about 65 years and hence, we have no difficulty in fixing the multiplier as 5 as per Sarla

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_____________ Page 3 of 8_

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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Verma's case. The deceased Karthikeyan was working as a Senior Consultant in Bharath Oman Refinery Limited at Madyapradesh. Ex.P.20 is the salary certificate and Ex.P.13 is Form 16A namely, TDS Form issued by the employee based upon the salary paid by the employer and as per Ex.P.20, by way of the consultation charges and other charges, he has earned Rs.2,00,000/- per month and along with other heads of incentives, it was a total sum of Rs.2,24,720/- and accordingly, 10% tax has already been deducted as seen in Ex.P13 and hence, based upon the salary certificate issued in Ex.P.20, marked through P.W.2, we fix the salary, inclusive of consultation charges at Rs.2,00,000/- and hence, per annum it works

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out to Rs.24,00,000/- and after deducting income tax 10% (Rs.2,40,000), the net amount is Rs.21,60,000/-. Considering the rate of deduction for Senior Citizens, at the relevant point of time, the income tax payable is as per the slab below:

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Income Tax Slab Income Tax Rate Up to Rs.3,00,000/Nil Rs.3,00,001-5,00,000/5% Rs.5,00,001 – 10,00,000/Rs.10,000/- + 20% above Rs.5,00,000/Above Rs.10,00,000/Rs.1,10,000/- +30% above Rs.10,00,000/-.

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_____________ Page 4 of 8_

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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Applying the slab, the working is as follows:

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= Rs.3,90,000/- + Rs.2,40,000/= Rs.5,30,000/= Rs.24,00,000/- (-) Rs.5,30,000/= Rs.18,70,000/-

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Considering that the employer has already deducted TDS at the rate of 10%, namely, Rs.2,40,000/-. Applying the slab above, TDS deducted is Rs.5,30,000/- (ie.Rs.1,10,000/- + 30% of Rs.14,00,000/- (Rs.4,20,000/-)) and on adjusting the 10% of TDS already deducted by the employer and factoring the same, the net income as Rs.18,70,000/- p.a.

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After deducting income tax, the annual income of the deceased as Rs.18,70,000/- and after deducting 1/3^rd (Rs.6,23,333/-) towards personal expenses, the deceased contributed Rs.12,46,667/- (Rs.18,70,000/- (-) Rs.6,23,333/-) to his family. By applying multiplier '5', the claimants are entitled to Rs.62,33,335/- (Rs.12,46,667/- X5) towards loss of income. With regard to the two daughters, they are entitled to Rs.40,000/- each for the love and affection, Rs.15,000/- for transport charges; Rs.15,000/- for funeral expenses;

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Page 5 of 8

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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and for the loss of estate, Rs.15,000/-. In view of the above discussion, the compensation is reworked in the manner hereunder:

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Head	Awarded by the Tribunal	Awarded by this Court	Enhanced/ reduced/ confirmed
1. Loss of income	Rs. 1,20,00,056/-	Rs.62,33,335/-	reduced
2.Loss of love and affection	Rs. 2,00,000/- each Rs.1,00,00/-	Rs. 80,000/- each Rs.40,000/-	reduced
3.Funeral expenses	Rs. 15,000/-	Rs. 15,000/-	reduced
5.Loss of estate	Rs. ......	Rs. 15,000/-	awarded
6.Transport expenses	Rs. 20,000/-	Rs. 15,000/-	reduced
Total Compensation	Rs. 1,14,35,056	Rs. 63,58,335/-	reduced

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Accordingly, the Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is partly allowed and the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is reduced from Rs.1,14,35,056/- to Rs.63,58,335/-.

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The appellant/Insurance Company is directed to deposit the modified award amount of Rs.63,58,335/- along with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of claim petition till the date of deposit, together with costs awarded

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Page 6 of 8

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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by the Tribunal, less the amount, if any already deposited, within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. Excess amount, deposited if any, shall be refunded to the appellant/Insurance Company. On such deposit being made, the claimants are permitted to withdraw their modified award amount along with interest and costs as per the ratio of apportionment made by the Tribunal, less the amount if any already withdrawn by them, after filing appropriate application before the Tribunal. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.

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[T.K.R., J.] [P.B.B., J.] 01.12.2023

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NCC : Yes / No Index : Yes / No Internet : Yes / No sji/LS

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Page 7 of 8

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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C.M.A(MD)No.724 of 2019

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RMT.TEEKAA RAMAN, J. and P.B.BALAJI, J.