Ahemedbee Ahmedsab And ORS v. Thirumathi M Bhanumati G R Mohan And ORS

( 1 )

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

BENCH AT AURANGABAD FIRST APPEAL NO. 2406 OF 2010 1.

Ahemedbee w/o. Ahmedsab, ..

Appellants Age. 49 years, Occ. Household 2.

Syd. Gous s/o. Syd. Ahmedsab, Age. 35 years, Occ. Labour 3.

Syd. Rauf s/o. Syd. Ahmedsab, Age. 30 years, occ. Labour 4.

Syd. Shabbir s/o. Syd. Ahmedsab, Age. 30 years, Occ. Labour All are R/o. Narsi, Tq. Naigaon (Kh), Dist. Nanded.

Versus

1.

Thirumathi M Bhanumati w/o.

..

Respondents G.R. Moha, Age. Major, Occ. Managing Partner, of Jayakrishna road ways, F-12, Kennedy Avenue Fairland Salem-16, Dist. Salem (Tamilnadu).

2.

National Insurance Co. Ltd., 2nd Floor, Maruti Complex, F-215 Omalur Main Road, P.B. No.27, Salem, Dist. Salem (Tamilnadu).

3.

National Insurance Co. Ltd., Through its Branch Manager, Branch at Nanded.

( 2 ) Mr. S.S. Patil, Advocate for the appellants.

Mr. S.V. Kulkarni, Advocate for respondent No.3. CORAM : A.V. NIRGUDE,J.

DATED :

28.07.2015 ORAL JUDGMENT :- 1.

This appeal filed for enhancement in compensation amount inter alia challenges the correctness of judgment and award dated 07.09.2009, passed by learned Member of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Biloli, Dist. Nanded in Claim Petition No. 21 of 2006. The only question that arises in this appeal is 'what amount of compensation the appellants are entitled to'. 2.

It is common ground that the appellant No.1's husband and father of other appellants was working as Valve Operator with Maharashtra Jivan Pradhikaran, Division No.1, Nanded. His salary was Rs.11,049/- per month. He died at the age of 50 years. In order to calculate compensation, pecuniary loss caused to the family members of the deceased is required to be calculated. Out of salary of the deceased, he would use at least 1/3rd amount for his own survival. Rest of the amount he would spent for his wife and children.

( 3 ) 3.

Learned Member of the Tribunal perused the salary certificate [Exh.32] & held that take-home salary of the deceased was only Rs.2710/-. When I perused Exh.32, I found that take-home salary of the deceased was Rs.6979/-. From his salary of Rs.11,049/-, certain dedications were made. Most of the deductions were made for repayment of loans. Learned Member [almost recklessly] opined that for the purpose of calculating compensation, 'take-home salary' is required to be taken into account. The law on this subject is settled from time to time and at least in 2009 when the impugned judgment was delivered, the law required the gross salary to be taken into account for calculating the compensation. The tax liability of the deceased was only to the tune of Rs.175/-. One has to deduct that amount from the total salary.

In addition to this one must add certain amount towards future prospects. In view of the fact that the deceased was a Government servant and was only 50 years old, 30% of his salary should be added towards future prospects. Out of this amount 1/3rd amount deserves to be deducted towards personal expenses of the deceased and the remaining amount would have been used by the deceased for maintaining his family. Due to death of the deceased, such amount is now loss to the claimants.

( 4 ) by the Supreme Court in the case of Smt. Sarla Verma & Ors. Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation & Anr., AIR 2009 S.C.3104. In addition to this the appellant No.1 suffered loss of consortium and deserves certain amount as compensation. In my view an amount of Rs.25,000/- should be sufficient compensation for loss of consortium. Rest of the appellants are also entitled to certain amount towards loss of love and affection. In my view, Rs.10,000/- would be appropriate amount towards compensation for love and affection. In additional to this, the claimants are entitled to compensation of Rs.2000/- towards funeral expenses.

Thus, the calculation would be as under :- Particulars Amount Rs.

Earning per month 11049 Less Tax -175 10874 30% future prospects (+) 14136 Less 1/3rd personal deduction -4712 Annual income (multiplied by 12) 113090 Multiplied by 13 multiplier 1470165 Loss of consortium 25000 Loss of love and affection 10000 Funeral expenses Total compensation 1507165

( 5 ) 4.

The appeal should, therefore, succeeds. The amount of Rs. 15,07,165/- shall be paid to the appellants with interest at the rate of 6% p.a. from the date of application. The amount, so far received, shall be deducted from the total compensation. The appellants shall also be entitled to costs of this appeal. [A.V. NIRGUDE,J.] snk/2015/JUL15/fa2406.10