Present: Mr. R.S. Mamli Advocate Vs. Atinder Kumar and Others - Court Judgment

FAO No.2242 of 2010 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.2242 of 2010 Date of Decision.29.04.2014 Smt. Suresho Devi and others ......Appellants Versus Atinder Kumar and others ......Respondents Present: Mr. R.S. Mamli, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. Suvir Dewan, Advocate for the insurance company. CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN1 Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ?.

2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ?.

3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?. -.- K. KANNAN J.

1. The appeal is for enhancement of compensation for death of a male aged 40 years. He was said to be owner of a shop run under the style of M/s Sharda Band. The Tribunal held that he must have earned at least ` 6000/- on an average and proceeded to determine the compensation. I will assume that he would have also had an increase in prospect by the fact that he was himself running a band group and provide for prospect of 30% increase. The fact that the claimants were widow, one major and three minor children, I will provide for 1/4th deduction and apply a multiplier of 15. The compensation assessable shall be as under:- FATAL ACCIDENT Jarnail Singh Age 40 years Occupation Shop owner Kamboj Pankaj Kumar 2014.05.01 13:56 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh FAO No.2242 of 2010 -2- FATAL ACCIDENT Jarnail Singh Claimants Widow, 1 major and 3 minor children Heads of claim Tribunal High Court Sl. No.Amount Amount (Rs.) (Rs) 1 Income 6000 6000 2 Add, % of increase 30% 7800 3 Less, Deduction 1/4th 5850 4 Multiplicand (annualized by 70,200 multiplying 12) 5 Multiplier 14 15 6 Loss of dependence 7,56,000 10,53,000 7 Medical Expenses & Transportation 8 Loss of Consortium 1,00,000 9 Loss of love and affection 1,50,000 10 Loss to estate 2500 11 Funeral expenses 10,000 25000 Total 7,66,000 13,30,500 2. The total compensation payable will be ` 13,30,500/-. I have seen through the file and it bears out that the claimant himself had made proposal for settlement for ` 13,07,800/- and the same had been received by the insurance company and they have not taken any action on the same. I find that the amount which I have assessed is even higher than the amount which was suggested by the claimants as the amount that they were willing to settle. The attitude of the insurance company in forcing an adjudication when the scales of compensation are reasonably well settled through the decisions of the Supreme Court is unfortunate. We ought to be pushing towards voluntary settlements in cases where the negligence is established and when there are sure tools of determining the appropriate and just compensation. For the sheer unwillingness of the insurance company to be reasonable and for being uncooperative that fair settlement is arrived at, I impose costs of ` Kamboj Pankaj Kumar 2014.05.01 13:56 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh FAO No.2242 of 2010 -3- 25,000/-. The additional amount over what has already been provided by the Tribunal shall also attract interest @9% from the date of petition till the date of payment. The liability shall be on the insurance company. The entitlement as found will be distributed equally amongst the widow and children.

3. It is not possible for me to assess even the date of accident from the file available and the papers have been burnt and the counsel for the appellant did not think it necessary to file a proper copy of the paper book. The Court has reconstructed the file with the available file and the award of the Tribunal merely refers to the date of institution of petition on 18.12.2007. I direct 60% of the additional amount as determined shall be paid to the widow and the remaining 40% shall stay in deposit for a further period of 7 years splitting up the amount into 7 portions, the first portion for a period of one year, second portion for a period of two years and so on upto 7 years. The amounts shall be paid on the respective dates of maturity by the bank directly under advice to the Tribunal. As regards the share of the major son, the direction shall be in the same manner as referred to above for the widow. As regards the minor children, the amounts shall be deposited till their age of minority and 75% of the amount shall be disbursed on their attaining majority. The interest on quarterly basis shall be released to the mother by the bank towards maintenance expenses. 25% of the amount on attaining majority shall be retained for a further period of 3 years, the amount being split for each one of the children to three portions with a like direction for deposit for one year, two years, three years and so on. The Tribunal shall ensure that the amounts are disbursed by the Kamboj Pankaj Kumar 2014.05.01 13:56 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh FAO No.2242 of 2010 -4- bank under deposit to it and the bank shall not permit any premature withdrawal or raise any loan on the fixed deposit.

4. The award passed by the Tribunal stands modified and the appeal is allowed to the above extent. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE April 29, 2014 Pankaj* Kamboj Pankaj Kumar 2014.05.01 13:56 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh