K. Vinod Chandran, J.:— The appellants are the wife, children and parents of the deceased in a road traffic accident. The accident occurred when the motor bike in which the deceased was travelling, hit with a car. The deceased was 44 years and died on the spot. The deceased was asserted to have been carrying on a private banking concern and claimed his income at Rs. 10,000/- per month. The Tribunal adopted only Rs. 2,500/-. The appellants claim enhancement of compensation under various other heads also based on the decision in National Insurance Company v. Pranay Sethi [2017 (5) KHC 350].
2. The appellants had produced two documents being Exts. A6 and A7 before the Tribunal to prove the income of Rs. 8,000/- per month. Ext. A6 is issued by the Village Officer, Kodassery Village and Ext. A7 is issued by Tahasildar, Mukundapuram Taluk.
3. The learned counsel for the Insurance Company points out that the Tribunal had specifically considered these documents and found that they cannot be relied on for reason of no proof being offered. It is also submitted that there is no disclosure of the enquiry conducted by the Tahasildar or the Village Officer to come to the conclusion of monthly income as seen from the certificates. It is to be noticed that the documents were marked without any objection from the Insurance Company, before the Tribunal. The Insurance Company having not objected to the marking of the documents, cannot contend that there should be proof offered. (Thulasi Bai v. C.V Manoharan [1989 KHC 587])
4. On the above finding, the income as seen from the certificates has to be accepted, which is Rs. 8,000/- per month. As stated by the learned counsel appearing for the appellants, there should also be compensation enhanced on the basis of the decision in National Insurance Company v. Pranay Sethi [2017 (5) KHC 350].
5. Considering the monthly income as Rs. 8,000/-, 25% has to be added and 1/4 reduced for personal affairs to arrive at monthly income for the purpose of computing loss of dependency. Hence, for computation of loss of dependency, monthly income will be at the rate of Rs. 7,500/-. Under the other heads also the compensation awarded is enhanced as hereinbelow:
Sl. No. Head of Claim Amount awarded by the Tribunal Rs. Total amount after enhancement in appeal Rs. 1 Funeral Expenses 4000 15000 2 Transportation Expenses - 1000 3 Damage to clothing - 500 4 Dependency 300000 1260000 7500 × 12 × 14 5 Loss of love and affection 20000 100000 6 Loss of Consortium 15000 40000 7 Loss of estate 10000 15000 Total 349000 1431500
6. It is submitted that the compensation as awarded by the Tribunal has already been paid. In such circumstances, the enhanced compensation as awarded by this Court shall carry interest at the rate as directed by the Tribunal from the date of application and the same shall be paid within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.
7. The appeal would stand allowed.
Comments