(Prayer: Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 against the judgment and decree dated 08.02.2011 made in M.C.O.P.No.2565 of 2006, on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, (IV Court of Small Causes), Chennai.)
R.KARUPPIAH, J.
1. This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is filed by the appellant/New India Assurance Company Limited, as against the judgment and decree dated 08.02.2011 passed by the learned IV Judge, Small Causes Court, Chennai, in M.C.O.P.No.2565 of 2006.
2. The respondents 1 to 4, who are the claimants 1 to 4 filed a claim petition before the Tribunal claiming compensation of Rs.50,00,000/- for the death of one Mr.R.Muthuraju in a road accident which occurred on 20.09.2005.
3. Briefly the case of the claimants is that on 20.09.2005 at about 10.00 a.m., while the deceased R.Muthuraju was going on his motorcycle bearing Registration No.TN-57-F-2319 at Ramavaram main road, near Srinivasa Engineering, Chennai, proceeding towards Nesapakkam, a Lorry bearing Registration No.TN-21-Z-0001, belonging to the fifth respondent herein/first respondent in the above said O.P., was driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner in the opposite direction at a great high speed and came into a wrong side of the road and dashed against the motorcycle of the deceased, as a result of which, the deceased was died on the spot. The deceased was aged about 37 years old and he was working as a Manager in HMS Medical Systems, K.K.Nagar, Chennai, and earned a sum of Rs.25,000/- per month and the claimants are the legal heirs of the deceased and therefore, they claimed compensation of Rs.50,00,000/- from fifth respondent and the appellant herein, who are owner and insurer of the Lorry.
4. The 5th respondent, who is the owner of the Lorry, remained ex-parte before the Tribunal. The appellant herein, who is the insurer of the said Lorry denied the alleged accident as pleaded by the claimants and also denied the validity of insurance policy, Fitness Certificate and driving licence of the driver of the Lorry and further challenged the quantum of compensation claimed by the claimants as excessive and exorbitant.
5. Before the Tribunal, the claimants have examined two witnesses as P.W.1 and P.W.2 and also 13 documents were marked as Exs.P.1 to P.13. On the side of the respondents, no oral or documentary evidence. The Tribunal, after considering the above said claimants side oral and documentary evidence, came to a conclusion that the accident had occurred only due to the rash and negligent driving of the Lorry and hence the owner and insurer of the vehicle viz., 5th respondent and appellant herein are liable to pay compensation to the claimants.
6. With regard to compensation, the Tribunal has fixed the age of the deceased as 38 years on the basis of Ex.P.13-Transfer Certificate of the deceased and the monthly income of the deceased was fixed on the basis of evidence as Rs.25,000/- and adopted multiplier of '16' and after deducting 1/3 amount towards personal and living expenses of the deceased, 2/3 has been taken as contribution to the claimants, who are wife, daughters and mother, since father of the deceased was died and calculated the pecuniary loss at Rs.32,00,000/- [Rs.16,667/- x 12 x 16 = Rs.32,00,064/- rounded off to Rs.32,00,000].
7. In total, the Tribunal has awarded a sum of Rs.33,56,800/- as compensation to the claimants under various heads as under:-
| Sl.No. | Heads | Amount granted by the Tribunal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pecuniary loss | Rs. 32,00,000/- |
| 2 | Loss of consortium to the 1st claimant | Rs. 1,00,000/- |
| 3 | Funeral Expenses | Rs. 10,000/- |
| 4 | Love and Affection to the claimants | Rs. 40,000/- |
| 5 | Transport Expenses | Rs. 6,800/- |
| Â | Total | Rs. 33,56,800/- |
9. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant mainly contended that the Tribunal has fixed the monthly income of the deceased at Rs.25,000/-, but failed to deduct any amount for income tax and that Rs.10,000/- awarded for funeral expenses is also on higher side and therefore, the award passed by the Tribunal is excessive.
10. A perusal of the award passed by the Tribunal reveals that the income of the deceased was fixed as Rs.25,000/- per month on the basis of oral evidence of P.W.1 and also documentary evidence but the Tribunal failed to deduct any amount for income tax out of income of the deceased, as rightly contended by the learned counsel appearing for the appellant and therefore 10% towards income tax is to be deducted from the income of the deceased.
11. Admittedly, the claimants are four in number and therefore, the Tribunal had correctly deducted 1/3 amount towards personal expenses of the deceased and also correctly adopted the multiplier as '16'. In the above said circumstances, the monthly income of the deceased is taken as Rs.25,000/- as fixed by the Tribunal and therefore annual income comes to Rs.3,00,000/-, in which, 10% i.e., Rs.30,000/- is to be deducted towards income tax and after deducting 10% of the amount for income tax, the contribution to the family comes to Rs.2,70,000/- per annum, in which, 1/3 amount is to be deducted towards personal expenses of the deceased i.e., a sum of Rs.1,80,000/- is to be taken as loss to the claimants and therefore, the loss of pecuniary benefits is calculated as Rs.28,80,000/- [Rs.1,80,000/- x 16 = 28,80,000/-].
12. Further, the Tribunal has awarded a sum of Rs.10,000/- for funeral expenses which is highly excessive as rightly contended by the learned counsel for the appellant and therefore, it should be reduced toRs.5,000/-.
13. With regard to the award passed by the Tribunal for other heads i.e., a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- towards loss of consortium to the first claimant; a sum of Rs.40,000/- (Rs.10,000/- each) to the claimants 1 to 4 for loss of love and affection and a sum of Rs.6,800/- towards transport charges are not excessive and therefore there is no need to interfere with the above said finding.
14. From the above said discussion, we are of the view that the award passed by the Tribunal is to be reduced from Rs.33,56,800/- to Rs.30,31,800/- and rounded off to Rs.33,32,000/- (Rupees thirty three lakhs thirty two thousand only).
15. In the result, this Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is partly allowed and the award amount passed by the Tribunal is reduced from Rs.Rs.33,56,800/- to Rs.33,32,000/- (Rupees thirty three lakhs thirty two thousand only) with interest at 7.5% per annum and the claimants are entitled to share as per the ratio fixed by the Tribunal and with regard to other aspects, the award of the Tribunal is confirmed. Consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petition is closed.