Swaran Kaur and Others Vs. Harbans Singh and Others - Court Judgment

SooperKanoon Citationsooperkanoon.com/1156085
CourtPunjab and Haryana High Court
Decided OnJul-11-2014
AppellantSwaran Kaur and Others
RespondentHarbans Singh and Others
Excerpt:
archana arora fao no.276 of 1996 1 2014.07.16 12:22 i am the author of this document in the high court of punjab & haryana, chandigarh fao no.276 of 1996 date of decision: july 11, 2014 swaran kaur and others ......appellants versus harbans singh and others .......respondents coram: hon'ble mr.justice k. kannan present:- mr.ajay singla,advocate for the appellants. mr.d.p. gupta, advocate for the insurance co.**** k. kannan, j (oral).1. the appeal is against the dismissal of the petition for compensation. the deceased was going on a cycle when he was supposed to have been hit by the insured's truck. the tribunal found that the negligence had not been established and dismissed the petition. there was also a defence that the claimants had received `20,000/- from the owner in full quit of all claims and gave a statement to that effect. the claimants admitted to have received `20,000/- but denied the document on a plea that the firs.claimant had signed document on blank paper which had been used for filling up recitals to the convenience of the respondents. 2. in any situation of a death of a pedestrian or a cyclist by the involvement of a motor vehicle, i will be loathe to draw fao no.276 of 1996 2 any negligence on the part of the pedestrian or cyclist. it is always the heavier vehicle which shall be driven with circumspection and care that no death or injury resulted from such driving. a cyclist or a pedestrian could hardly cause death by an impact with other person. it is only a motor vehicle that could cause death or injury. there is therefore a scheme for compensation under the motor vehicles act for use of a motor vehicle. i revers.the finding regarding want of proof of negligence on the part of the driver and hold that the death had resulted from a res ipsa loquitur situation of a cyclist having been run over by a motor vehicle and therefore the driver was responsible. 3. the deceased was said to be 48 years and working as a printing master in a private printing press earning `4500/-. no proof of income had been adduced and the tribunal rejected the evidence as not acceptable. i will not wholly discard the oral evidence of the wife who spoke from her personal knowledge of what her husband was doing. so long as he was an able bodied man supporting a family of 5 children, i will assume that he would have earned not less than `3,000/- on an average. i will make a deduction of 1/4th and re-work the compensation as under:- fatal accidents date of accident 21.12.1992 age 48 occupation claimants: widow,five children s.no.heads of claim tribunal high court (amount rs.) amount (rs.) 1 income 2000/- add, % of increase 1000/- 2 30%/50% fao no.276 of 1996 3 fatal accidents date of accident 21.12.1992 3 deduction 2250/- 4 multiplicand 27000/- 5 multiplier 13 6 loss of dependence 3,51,000/- 7 medical expenses 8 loss of consortium 1,00,000/- loss of love and 1,00,000/- 9 affection 10 loss to estate 2500/- 11 funeral expenses 5000/- 12 total 5,58,500/- 4. i have provided for `1 lac for loss of consortium and `1 lac for loss of love and affection to all the children considering the fact of accident in the year 1992. since there had been an admission that there had been a receipt of `20,000/- the amount shall also be deducted from the aggregate. there shall be an award of `5,38,500/- and the same shall be distributed equally amongst the wife and all children. the liability shall be on the insurance company. 5. the award is modified and the appeal is allowed to the above extent. (k. kannan) judge july 11, 2014 archana
Judgment:

Archana arora FAO No.276 of 1996 1 2014.07.16 12:22 I am the author of this document IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH FAO No.276 of 1996 Date of decision: July 11, 2014 Swaran Kaur and others ......Appellants Versus Harbans Singh and others .......Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE Mr.JUSTICE K.

KANNAN Present:- Mr.Ajay Singla,Advocate for the appellants.

Mr.D.P.

Gupta, Advocate for the Insurance Co.**** K.

Kannan, J (oral).1.

The appeal is against the dismissal of the petition for compensation.

The deceased was going on a cycle when he was supposed to have been hit by the insured's truck.

The tribunal found that the negligence had not been established and dismissed the petition.

There was also a defence that the claimants had received `20,000/- from the owner in full quit of all claims and gave a statement to that effect.

The claimants admitted to have received `20,000/- but denied the document on a plea that the fiRs.claimant had signed document on blank paper which had been used for filling up recitals to the convenience of the respondents.

2.

In any situation of a death of a pedestrian or a cyclist by the involvement of a motor vehicle, I will be loathe to draw FAO No.276 of 1996 2 any negligence on the part of the pedestrian or cyclist.

It is always the heavier vehicle which shall be driven with circumspection and care that no death or injury resulted from such driving.

A cyclist or a pedestrian could hardly cause death by an impact with other person.

It is only a motor vehicle that could cause death or injury.

There is therefore a scheme for compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act for use of a motor vehicle.

I reveRs.the finding regarding want of proof of negligence on the part of the driver and hold that the death had resulted from a res ipsa loquitur situation of a cyclist having been run over by a motor vehicle and therefore the driver was responsible.

3.

The deceased was said to be 48 years and working as a Printing Master in a private Printing press earning `4500/-.

No proof of income had been adduced and the tribunal rejected the evidence as not acceptable.

I will not wholly discard the oral evidence of the wife who spoke from her personal knowledge of what her husband was doing.

So long as he was an able bodied man supporting a family of 5 children, I will assume that he would have earned not less than `3,000/- on an average.

I will make a deduction of 1/4th and re-work the compensation as under:- Fatal accidents Date of accident 21.12.1992 Age 48 Occupation Claimants: Widow,five children S.No.Heads of claim Tribunal High Court (Amount Rs.) Amount (Rs.) 1 Income 2000/- Add, % of increase 1000/- 2 30%/50% FAO No.276 of 1996 3 Fatal accidents Date of accident 21.12.1992 3 Deduction 2250/- 4 Multiplicand 27000/- 5 Multiplier 13 6 Loss of dependence 3,51,000/- 7 Medical expenses 8 Loss of consortium 1,00,000/- Loss of love and 1,00,000/- 9 affection 10 Loss to estate 2500/- 11 Funeral expenses 5000/- 12 Total 5,58,500/- 4.

I have provided for `1 lac for loss of consortium and `1 lac for loss of love and affection to all the children considering the fact of accident in the year 1992.

Since there had been an admission that there had been a receipt of `20,000/- the amount shall also be deducted from the aggregate.

There shall be an award of `5,38,500/- and the same shall be distributed equally amongst the wife and all children.

The liability shall be on the Insurance Company.

5.

The award is modified and the appeal is allowed to the above extent.

(K.

KANNAN) JUDGE July 11, 2014 archana