Suman Rani v. Balbir Singh

K. KANNAN, J. (ORAL)

1. Both the appeals are connected and FAO No. 908 of 2009 is at the instance of the claimants seeking for enhancement while FAO No. 35 of 2009 is at the instance of Insurance Company questioning the issue of liability as assessed by the Tribunal.

2. The claim of the appellant in FAO No. 908 of 2009 is that the Tribunal had provided for a ¼ deduction and has applied a multiplier of 16 in a case where there were four dependents and the deduction must have been only ¼ and choice of multiplier must have been 17 and not 16 as taken by the Tribunal. I accede to the plea and modify the award by taking the contribution to the family at Rs. 2250/- per month and apply a multiplier of 17 to hold the loss of dependency at Rs. 4,59,000/-. The Tribunal has also not provided for conventional heads of claim and I will therefore provide for Rs. 5000/- for loss of consortium to the wife and Rs. 5000/- each for each of the minor children for loss of love and affection. I will also provide for an additional sum of Rs. 5000/- for funeral expenses and Rs. 5000/- towards loss to estate. The amount payable will be therefore Rs. 4,89,000/-. The amount in excess of what has been determined by the Tribunal will attract interest at 7.5% from the date of petition till the date of payment. The amount shall be distributed equally amongst the widow and children. The awards stands modified and appeal is allowed to the above extent.

3. As regards the liability, the Insurance Company is aggrieved by the fact that the Tribunal has not provided a right of recovery especially in a case where the driver's driving licence had expired on 22.03.1987 itself and he had applied for a renewal only after the accident on 23.02.2007 The accident had taken place on 17.02.2007 Evidently the driver did not have a valid driving licence and a renewal which was obtained beyond the expiry cannot make the insurer liable in the light of the judgment of Supreme Court in National Insurance v. Dharam Singh(2007) 15 SCC 28. This only allowed for a right of recovery for the insurer against the owner-driver and the insurer will continue to be liable to make the payment to the claimants as already assessed for them.

4. The Award stands modified as regards the liability as well. The insurance company will have a right of recovery in the manner provided above. The appeals are disposed of in the light of above.