In an appeal filed before the Himachal Pradesh High Court to seek enhancement of an award dated 22-04-2015 by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Una (MACT), a Single Judge Bench of Justice Jiya Lal Bhardwaj allowed the appeal and enhanced the compensation awarded to the appellants to Rs. 8,05,400/- with an interest at 9% per annum.
By the impugned award, the appellants had been compensated with a sum of Rs. 3,42,750/- along with interest at 7.5% per annum. The appellants had preferred a claim under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 seeking Rs. 10 lakhs as compensation after their son died in a motor vehicle accident that occurred on 16-04-2013.
The award had been challenged by contending that the deceased’s income was wrongly taken as Rs. 3000/- per month and that the same should have been considered at a higher side keeping in mind the principles of Kishan Gopal & Anr. v. Lala & Ors. (2014) 1 SCC 244. It was also stated that the MACT had erred by deducting 25% as contributory negligence for the deceased not holding a valid driving license at the time of the accident.
The Court accepted that the MACT had erred in computing the deceased’s income as Rs. 3000/- per month since he was in the 11th standard and had a bright future ahead. It was stated that since the deceased had completed his matriculation and scored second division, his income could be considered at least as Rs. 4500/- per month.
Further, the Court held that 50% of the deceased’s income would be treated as his personal and living expenses. It was also held that the MACT had rightly applied the multiplier but failed to consider the future prospects. Hence, 40% towards future aspects would also have to be added to the income.
While accepting the second contention of the appellants, the Court said that the deceased could not have been held to be liable for contributory negligence only because he did not have a driving license. It was said that a penalty could be inflicted upon the deceased for driving without a license and set aside the finding of the MACT to deduct 25% from the compensation while stating that such deduction was wrong and illegal.
The Court considered the Supreme Court’s decision in Sube Singh & Anr. v. Shyam Singh & Ors. (2018) 3 SCC 18 and opined that the interest deserved to be enhanced from 7.5% to 9% per annum. Further, the Court noted that the MACT had not awarded any amount towards consortium and held that Rs. 50,000/- each is to be paid to both appellants while considering Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram alias Chuhru Ram & Ors. (2018) 18 SCC 130.
Thus, the Court allowed the appeal and enhanced the compensation awarded to the appellants to Rs. 8,05,400/- along with interest at 9% per annum. It was held that 75% of the amount should go to respondent 1 and 25% to respondent 2. Lastly, the insurance company was directed to deposit the enhanced amount within 90 days.
Appearances:
For Appellants – Mr. N.K. Thakur, Mr. Divya Raj Singh
For Respondents – Ms. Devyani Sharma, Mr. Anirudh Sharma
