In a First Appeal against a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal award, the High Court enhanced the compensation by Rs. 2,04,000 to include future prospects and adjusted conventional heads, modifying the award to Rs. 8,16,240.
Enhanced compensation of Rs. 2,04,000 to be paid within 45 days along with interest.
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.
F.A.O No. 6384 of 2016
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
F.A.O No. 6384 of 2016 Date of decision:- 22.03.2018
Beer Singh and anr.
...Appellants
Versus
Har Dayal and others
...Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI
Present:Mr. Aditya Yadav, Advocate, for the appellants
Mr Ravinder Arora, Advocate with Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate for respondent No. 3-Insurance Company.
RITU BAHRI J. (Oral)
Gaurav Arora 2018.05.01 11:19 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
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F.A.O No. 6384 of 2016
“54. As far as the conventional heads are concerned, we find
it difficult to agree with the view expressed in Rajesh. It has granted Rs. 25,000/- towards funeral expenses, Rs. 1,00,000/-loss
Gaurav Arora 2018.05.01 11:19 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
F.A.O No. 6384 of 2016
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of consortium and Rs. 1,00,000/- towards loss of care and guidance for minor children. The head relating to loss of care and minor children does not exist. Though Rajesh refers to Santosh Devi, it does not seem to follow the same. The conventional and traditional heads, needless to say, cannot be determined on percentage basis because that would not be an acceptable criterion. Unlike determination of income, the said heads have to be quantified. Any quantification must have a reasonable foundation. There can be no dispute over the fact that price index, fall in bank interest, escalation of rates in many a field have to be noticed. The court cannot remain oblivious to the same. There has been a thumb rule in this aspect. Otherwise, there will be extreme difficulty in determination of the same and unless the thumb rule is applied, there will be immense variation lacking any kind of consistency as a consequence of which, the orders passed by the tribunals and courts are likely to be unguided. Therefore, we think it seemly to fix reasonable sums. It seems to us that reasonable figures on conventional heads, namely, loss of estate, loss of consortium and funeral expenses should be Rs. 15,000/-, Rs. 40,000/- and Rs. 15,000/- respectively. The principle of revisiting the said heads is an acceptable principle. But the revisit should not be fact-centric or quantum-centric. We think that it would be condign that the amount that we have quantified should be enhanced on percentage basis in every three years and the enhancement should be at the Gaurav Arora rate of 10% in a span of three years. We are disposed to hold so 2018.05.01 11:19 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
F.A.O No. 6384 of 2016
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because that will bring in consistency in respect of those heads.” .
7. In the present case, the compensation is being reassessed as per
the judgments mentioned above:-
| Sr. No. |
Heads | Calculations |
|---|---|---|
| (i) | Salary | Rs.5200/- per month |
| (ii) | 40% of (i) above to be added as future prospects= |
Rs.5200+Rs.2080=Rs.7280/- per month |
| (iii) | 1/2 of (ii) deducted as personal expenses of the deceased= |
Rs.7280-Rs.3640=Rs.3640/- per month |
| (iv) | Compensation after multiplier of 18 is applied |
Rs.3640X 12 X 18= Rs.07,86,240/- |
| (v) | Conventional heads (Loss of estate and funeral expenses) |
Rs.30,000/- |
| (vi) | Total Compensation awarded | Rs.08,16,240/- |
| Enhanced amount of compensation |
Rs.08,16,240-Rs.06,11,600=Rs.2,04,000/-) |
10. Accordingly, the award stands modified to the above extent and
the present appeal is partly allowed.
22.03.2018 (RITU BAHRI) G Arora JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned Yes Whether reportable No
Gaurav Arora 2018.05.01 11:19 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the compensation awarded by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal requires enhancement.
Whether future prospects should be added to the compensation calculation.
Whether conventional heads of compensation should be revised based on recent Supreme Court guidelines.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport CorporationDistinguished¶24
Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2009 (3) RCR (Civil) Page 77.
National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay SethiFollowed¶31
National Insurance Company Ltd vs. Pranay Sethi and others, passed in Spl Leave Petition (Civil) No. 25590 of 2014, decided on October 31, 2017
Shri Nagar Mal v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.Followed¶35
Shri Nagar Mal and ors vs. The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd and others, passed in Civil Appeal No. 448-2018., decided on 19.01.2018
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Beer Singh
Har Dayal
Ritu Bahri
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
