High Court Karnataka High Court

Master Aditya vs Thiru B Badra Reddy on 10 August, 2010

Karnataka High Court
Master Aditya vs Thiru B Badra Reddy on 10 August, 2010
Author: D.V.Shylendra Kumar K.N.Keshavanarayana
m MFA 4344 OF_ ado;   ~  1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BANGALORE

DATED was THE lo-nz mu? OF AUGUST, 2o1o  

FRESENT

Tm: I-ION'BLE MR. JUSTICE 1) v  3

AND

THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICEVKN  

Miscellaneous P'irstAppeal  of
Miscellaneous First Appeqz $12002 [MV]

BETWEEN

1.

MASTER    . _
s/0 LATE B RAVI-~ .V  '-
AGED ABOUT 7 YEARS   

KUM %PmyAm~-ALLOWTNO THE CLAIM PETITION
FOR cOM1$ENSAT1ON"7f_jSEEKING ENHANCEMENT OF
OOMPENSATTONAND  " 

 'h\ni*Av-é:§i:5*45\.O§>at>._ 2002" '  ---------- A =

 _ 1. "MASTER'AAI)IV'1;'=YA

S»/_O LATE "S. RAVI
AO'ED"AEOUT 7 YEARS

  A KUM PRTYANKA

 _D/'(_) LATE B RAVE
 _ AGED ABOUT 3 YEARS

   BEEMAIAH NAIDU

AGED ABOUT 70 YEARS



4. SMT RUKMINI
W] O BEEMAIAH NAIDU
AGED ABOUT 65 YEARS

SINCE PETITIONERS NO.1 81 2

ARE MINORS REP. BY NEXT

NATURAL GUARDIAN

SMT N RATHNA

W/O MANJUNATI-I _A _

AGED ABOUT 38 YEARS
ALL ARE RESIDING AT

N0.450, 8TH MAIN, VIJAYANAGAR ,   ._ _ A_ 
I-3ANGALORE--«<£0     APPELLANTS 

{By Sri K Venkatasudheér; 

1. SR! TI-IIRU I-3 BADRA REDDY

(OWNER), V   A

S/O CHIKKA BADEEA REDDY . A
BELLORVILLAGF-3, _--     ~ 
A'I'I'IBELE POST,    * 
ANEKALTALUK,       .
BANGALORE Ea:  'DIS'I'R1C'1';.. 

2. THE UNITED INDIA '1NSu.RIaNL:E CO.
MOTOR D,O.~IV NW0, '19--"1.9/ 1,
SOUTH END ROAD ._ * ' ~~
BASAVANAGU-D1 
B/ADEGALORE -~ 4;  AAAAA 14 .  RESPONDENTS

 Hegde Mulkhand, Adv. for R2]

A'-ii'HISDV"Mi?A 'iéiI;ED U/S 173(1) OF' MV ACT AGAINST THE

_  'JUDGM'ENTv.'AND.7~"AWARD DATED: 16.1.2002 PASSED IN MVC NO.

1.  236,1/99 ONfI":~1E FILE OF THE MEMBER, MACT--3, COURT OF SMALL
 BANGALORE, PARTLY ALLOWING THE CLAIM PETmON
V 4':4'OR_"'»c.OMPENSA'I1ON AND SEEKING ENHANCEMENT OF
 ----OOMEENSATION AND ETO,

THESE APPEALS COMING ON FOR FURTHER HEARING. THIS
DAY, KTESHAVANARAYANA. J.. DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:



JUDGMENT

IN MFA No.4844 of 2002:

In an unfortunate accident that V’

27.6.1999. the father and mother-¥”of*-«they it

claimants who were proceeding on ._
father and mother being pillion died-. at as a it
result of scooter hitting which
stopped suddenly. This led’. petitions, one in
respect of death in respect of

father of the :

2. The area’ of this appeal filed by the

claimants forvV”enhancement:_’of compensation with regard to

the’ death ‘ their riiot.1f1_¢r is that the multiplier adopted by

the ‘ is incorrect since the appropriate

»,___._rnulti.’plier is the deceased was aged thirty years. The

.”_–«.phdediiction. 50% of the monthly income of the deceased

personal expenses is contrary to law and the

it -deduction should have been oniy one~third. Further

deduction of 40% of the total compensation determined

” towards contributory negligence on the part of the rider of

g

Tribunal is justified in deducting 40% of the “total

compensation determined towards contributory negligenc.e’.”–V_

6. We have bestowed our serious considera,ti_jons*~.l.:tor_ the

submissions made on both sides.

7. There is no dispute that the-v:deseased._wasVlfilerripioyee ”
of APMC on a monthiy yo’f–“dand~-‘she was
aged 30 years as on the dateof death. As
per the law iaid -in case [supra] the
appropriate age of deceased is
’17’. Therefore; of ‘dlbllladopted by the Tribunal
is not correct’.– V H proceed to quantify the

compensation applying rnultipiier of ’17’.

‘ ;’I”11e are two minor children. Their father

Vrwas alsoeian ea-tniliiig member While the mother was employed

Therefore, it is reasonable to hoid that she was

able c’ont1’ibute not less than two~third of her earnings for

V. welfare of the children. Under these circumstances, in

“our opinion, the Tribunal is not justified in deducting 50% of

the earning of the deceased towards her personal expenses.

Ly

Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case.

the deduction towards personal expenses of the der:e’a_sed

ought to have been only one~third and not .

the loss of dependency to the appellants» has toibe it ”

by taking two–third of the income of de_’ceased._:”

9. The fact that the accident on. of the
scooter hitting the lorry ‘regsultylofl the lorry
which was going ahge-$191 is not in
dispute. The.’ admittedly the
pillion rider_._ out of the death
of the pillion -of composite negligence and

not a case of Vcopntriotitorynegligence as the deceased in this

V4.case was not in anyway responsibie for the accident. The

law’ is well settled and therefore deduction of

:7’a,_,___40%”of-{hie’cornplensation towards contributory negligence

‘even inltheacase arising out of death of the pillion rider, is

to law. The claimants are entitled to proceed

any one of the joint tortfeasors in the case of

C _3’~&,;’5r63..r

accident arising out of the e negligence of two or

more tortfeasors. Therefore, we are of the opinion that the

Tribunal is not justified in deducting 40% of the incorne of

the deceased towards personal expenses. Therefore the

of the Tribunal calls for correction and accordinglyllthel ~

loss of dependency after deducting onew~third_”ofp”‘th.e» i’r1€:4_C_>rne_ T”

towards personal expenses works

[2604 M 868 {1/3«1 of 2604} = 12 x si71iraessAwa:a = T

passed by the Tribunal under heads
does not call for revision this extent, the
appeal is allowegi..<':l1t_~.is are
entitled for total — as against

Rs. 1 ,e5.oQo/it afiégirdéii sauna

10. The shall carry interest at 6%

per from of the petition till the date of the

p’-ayinenty. respondent -» insurance company shall

‘Vo,___deposit”the eni1ar;iced compensation within four weeks from

the» date’ of Vthevreceipt of copy of the Judgment.

The apportionment and disbursement of the enhanced

it llcioinpensation shall be in the same ratio as indicated by the

it Ayvard of the Tribunal.

IN MFA No.48-45 of 2002:

12. This appeal arises out of the above facts, 3

of death of father of the minor children who wasllthev _

the scooter.

13. This appeal is for enha11§en1ent” oI’V_con1p.en~sl.ation. = L’

Claimants are minor children and~llthe’p.arents-of deceased.
The limited area of grievan’ce_’ulrgeid::’ counsel for
the appellants is the one–third of
the income of “personal expenses.

but having of dependents, the
deduction one-fourth as laid down by

the Supreme C’ou_rt. in VERMA’s case [supra]. It is

:.’also. lsuibmivsgsionwth’at°the contributory negligence on the

oiitheel: quantified at 40% by the court below is

the having regard to the manner in which the

” ” ~ ‘accident occizrred.

Hegde Mulkhand, learned counsel for the

‘:1-es.p.o§ndent – insurance company sought to Justify the

9’ Liiidgment and Award passed by the Tribunal by contending

gtz

10

that having regard to the law prevailing as on the date of the

Award, the deduction of one–third of the income’4…of.4:’_’the

deceased towards his personal expenses is justagrid’ _

and it does not call for interference_._ §t””isi:’_’:alsoV’*.hisi ”

submission that having regard to

accident occurred, that too thelscooterihaVingl’ihAit:._:th.e.

from behind in broad daylightVAs.at:p”‘2. “pin, .the..fi’ribunal is
justified in quantifying the negligence on the

part of the deceased

15. We see the contention of learned
counsel for the ‘regard to the deduction of

one–third of the mon–th’l;3f’ of the deceased towards his

4_personal§gexpensesd: Apex Court in SARLA VERMA’s

held that where the deceased has left

V numbering four and more upto six, the

deduction towards personal expenses of the deceased is to

taken’ at 1/ 4*”. Admittedly, there were four dependants to

theiildeceased. Since this appeal is being disposed of by this

‘court now we are required to correct the Award of the

Tribunal by applying the law as it stands today which is

(7

figz

11

SARLA VERMA’s case [supra]. Therefore, the loss of

dependency in this case has to be quantified by ded»u_ctin.g

1/431 of the monthly income of the deceased T.


 35/,' 

personal expenses.    g

16. There is no dispute that the_ deceased asglfider’l’of’:th;elVKg

scooter was going behind the in_ubroad:: and
rammed the lorry from beliiniel wavslbrlyought to
a sudden halt on encountered
by the driver of as rider of the
scooter oughtfitoygg from the heavy
vehicle goiizig -he having not done so, the

Tribunal, in our vievvil .–i:s’~~.:justified in quantifying the

c_ontribut}orytlnegligence on the part of the deceased at 40%

the amount equivalent to 40%, from the

v1iabillit}’;.«t,o ‘good by the other tortfeasor. Therefore,

We do not reason to interfere with the said finding

relcfordedgbyll the Tribunal. The award under conventional

if ‘4’ is just and proper.

view of the above discussion, this appeal is allowed

if A in part. ‘ W

12

18. The compensation towards loss of dependency after

deducting 40% towards contributory negligence

deceased is quantified at Rs.5,18,400/– [4,500 — .

of 4,500) 2 2.700 x 12 x 16]. Thus the _.appe11aznis’ entitled. ‘ at

to total compensation of —

Rs.4»,75,000/– awarded by the tribiiiial. X

19. The enhanced carry
interest at 6% per I,_the petition till
the date of the p — insurance
company compensation Within

four weeks,’ fr-_oniV’the_::datei_A:”of_ the receipt of copy of the

Judgment.

V’;30.” apportionment and disbursement of the enhanced

e i Awardxhof the titbjnfiai.

compensation sha11_be in the same ratio as indicated by the
Sd/~
EUDGE

Sd/e
” JUDGE