Ganga Devi and ors. Vs. Mainudeen and ors. - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
motor vehicles act, 1988 - sections 168 and 173--motor accident--compensation--enhancement of--when the monthly income of the deceased is arrived at on the basis of minimum wages, then the wages of the entire month are to be taken into consideration--monthly income would be rs. 64 × 30 = 1920 and after 1/3rd deduction of rs. 640, the loss of income would come to rs. 1280 × 12 × 16 = 2,45,760--tribunal erred in not awarding any consortium--total amount of compensation will be rs. 2,75,760/- claimants entitled to get interest on the enhanced amount.;appeal partly allowed. - - 500/- as 1/3rd amount for personal expenses has been wrongly made and no amount of consortium and love and affection of the father for the child has been awarded. counsel does not dispute that fact that no amount of love and affection has been awarded. 7. there is no dispute about the multiplier but the dispute is with regard to income, no grant of compensation under the heads consortium and love and affection to the child. 20,000/- and under the head love and affection to child the claimants are entitled to get rs. 20,000/- and under the head 'love and affection to the child' they will get rs.prem shanker asopa, j.1. with the consent of parties, this appeal is being decided at admission stage.2. this appeal has been filed by the claimants for enhancement of the compensation granted against the respondents no. 1 to 3-national insurance co. ltd. by the motor accident claims tribunal, sikar in mac no. 174/ 1997 vide its order dt. 26.10.2002.3. facts, in brief, of the case are that on 30.07.1997 surendra kumar was going to sonwali in jeep no. rj 23c 1996 and at about 10.15 p.m. another jeep no. rj 18c 992 came from fatehpur-ramgarh road which was being driven by mainudeen rashly and negligently and caused the accident due to which surendra kuar died.4. submission of counsel for the appellants is that the deceased who was a labour was earning rs. 4,000/- per month but his earning has been wrongly arrived at by the tribunal as rs. 1500/- per month considering rs. 64/- per day as the minimum wages for 22-23 days only on the ground that an unskilled labourer will not get work for more than the aforesaid days in a month. further deduction of rs. 500/- as 1/3rd amount for personal expenses has been wrongly made and no amount of consortium and love and affection of the father for the child has been awarded.5. submission of counsel for the respondent national insurance co. respondent no. 3 is that there was no evidence on record of the effect that the deceased was earning rs. 4,000/- per month and further the income at the rate of rs. 64/- per day by calculating the same for 22-23 days in a month has rightly been arrived at rs. 1500/-. counsel also submits that the widow of the deceased might have re-married by now. counsel does not dispute that fact that no amount of love and affection has been awarded.6. i have gone through memo of appeal, record of the tribunal and further considered rival submissions of the counsel for the parties.7. there is no dispute about the multiplier but the dispute is with regard to income, no grant of compensation under the heads consortium and love and affection to the child.8. in my view, when the monthly income of the deceased is arrived at on the basis of minimum wages, then the wages of the entire month are to be taken into consideration and in case the same are taken into consideration then the same would be rs. 64 30=1920 and after 1/3rd deduction of rs. 640/- the loss of income would come to rs. 1280 12 16= rs. 2,45,760/-. the tribunal has further grossly erred in not awarding any consortium. in the facts and circumstances of the case, the amount of compensation under the head 'consortium' is fixed as rs. 20,000/- and under the head love and affection to child the claimants are entitled to get rs. 10,000/-.9. in the result, the appeal is partly allowed against respondents no. 1 to 3, the impugned award of the tribunal is modified to the extent that under the head 'loss of income' instead of compensation amounting to rs. 1,92,000/- awarded by the tribunal, the claimants will get rs. 2,45,760/-; under the head 'consortium' the claimants will get rs. 20,000/- and under the head 'love and affection to the child' they will get rs. 10,000/-. thus, total amount of compensation will be rs. 2,45,760/- + rs. 20,000/- + rs. 10,000/- = rs. 2,75,760/-. the claimants will be entitled to get interest at the rate of 9% on the enhanced amount from the date of application.