High Court Karnataka High Court

Smt Girija W/O Ravi B Gowda … vs Shivakumar S/O Gurulingappa … on 30 July, 2008

Karnataka High Court
Smt Girija W/O Ravi B Gowda … vs Shivakumar S/O Gurulingappa … on 30 July, 2008
Author: V.Gopalagowda & Nagaraj
 

18 THE HIGH oomrr or  L;    

cmcurr BENCH AT    %  T 
Dated this the  day émaxy  % '    

THE HON'BLE MR.JUSHCE gowm
THE H915:   NAGARAJ
msc.mar

Between:

I.S}2l'.1t. 

 "V31./o.vRé:vi.A«}3.G:9wci§fi'Hasvaldar

S/«3.Ra:vi  "a E-Iawaldar

I   Mmm: tllmugis his next friend and

Natural  his real mother

" ~ 5 Appcflaritfio. I
«  ' I;39ti1%i-tsidcnts of Devi Nagar
"   ...Appe1laI1t

(By Sri. M.B/Ioinuddill, Adv.)

1. Shivakumar
S/ofiurulingappa Padshetty

'____"m(-----*\..----~---~'



(300: Driver and Owner of Santm Car

Bearing Rmistration NCLKA 32 M 3174 __ . A = 
R/'0.Sh0p No.1-655/O, MSK Mill Road     
Station Bazaar,Gu1banga.    * "

:2. The New India Assurance CJo.Ltd.',--  
threugh its Divisionai Maxzaggr 
Sangameshwar Colcny ' 

Policy Cover Note  4.1.2003
Issued from BC) Sri11i3;tt1'(',a3_1i;3:Icx   
New Cotton Market, Llfibfi. q_   V '

3. Smt.Shivam:md"      

    
Age: 65   Hafiz-Q]<':h§1id 
    
Tq; Jctwargiliifiti  j

..R€spcndent$'' «,  - 

This  Appea A  filed under Sec. 173(1) of
the M1? Act against' the Judgment and Award dated

passed in:.:vc No.435/2004 on the me of
'2_th c«.1?r1.DiSf1i<it.._vJudgc and MACE', Gulbary partly
allowing "tI_1'e..  petition for compcnsaticn and

  . imercst.

 'e:nf1a1:x;':emcnt of compensation with 8%

Thi3 Misc.F'i1'st Appeal coming on for hcarillg

'  flay, A'-rat: llagarq, J, delivered the following:

JUDGBEHT

The appellant N031 and 2 herein. respectively

being claimants 1 and 2 in MVC 435/O4 have sought

for enhancement cf ccempcnsation awarded under the

<'*---{N""'""'_'/



Ce
husband and father of the first and second appellant-

claimants respectiveiy and son of third I'CSpO1"1(iC11t -

Shivamma and death ef the deceased as a A. 2

the said accident on 29.2.2004; the liability  I : 

respflndent Insurance Compaiiiif  to  

compensation to the elaima ms  I1aife all

totally unchallenged. Therefdte;:"'ethe  

arises for our dCtCI'I}31'I}.E£v'i;'iC)I1i:ii;  is,  

  to
be e  t0"AAe'so;..3v to what

Our rmmggpn  is in the 'affirmative'

 '' holdifig t;§}a1iVv.the e;ppeii;ant-cia1'mants 1 and 2 and also

 "  Snltstxivamma shall be tegether

entitled ta  compensation of Rs. 1 1,46,600/~

. .. .1»-v'44___étSA3g8.il;1Sf:'RS.8,22,325/- awarded by the Txibuxlal fer

   reasons:

4. The ieamed counsel far the appellants,

  ~ 'epiacing strong reliance on the decision. of the Supreme



Court in the case of National Inswunce  " 

Ltd, - vsdndira Srivasttwa and others   T' 1 V

1 rzoosmcc 162 cm; stmngly .:on-fiéxiczedj   '  

Tribunal committed serious. * cgror A '    . V
loss of dependency by  tfxe   pay
(Rs.3,890/-,)   and
I-IRA of Rs.111:1__ thga...  to
Rs.6, 141/-   ugjfithe deceased
instead Rs. 10,206/- less
the ._ such as Income Tax,

Pr'ofessio:'1Aa}.  in Ex.PI3 the salary

 V.cexti1i<:9,<'1'te;~ He  submitted that the Tribunal

  grror in not considering the prospects

of   ".i;;rOA1z.1£$tior1, increments, periodical wage

 '   the deceased, who was onfiv about 21

 coijid have got during his entire service in

  the 'loss of dependency'. He also

 that, the Tribunal was not justified in

awarding only meager amount of Rs.5,000/-- towards

consortium in favour of Ehfi farst appellant-claimant

g---.....€\-------..,__



Wife and Rs.3,000/-- only towards funeral and 

expenses and also in not awarding the.--.4"%:o§éfi:".v:5f:&  

medicines as found in various bi1ls'u.:1c1¢r--Ex._vP15,   

5. As agajxlst the above  fit' .

learned counsel for the   
Veetvesh B.Pati1,   sécond
respondent-Insurer   the

deceased was of any

pI’0IIlt3tiO11 the Tribunal has

of Rs.6141/— as the

monthly “i:::;c0;11é’ . ‘ deceased; the amounts

, ‘_ aw§2;’.§é;iL’~ by under dificrcnt heads is

qiiittz and as such ixnpugned Judment

not cal} for any interference in this

‘.V.’aDpg«’g 1- .’ 4′

” ~ the case of National Insurance Company —

Indira Bu-ivastava referred to supra, which is relied

the by the learned counsel for the appellant,

the Ho1:1’bic Apex Court has observed at Paragraph

Ne-s. 13,14 and 21 as under:

Paru.13. The question came
consideration before a learned Single Jt;£dgveT 2.” ‘

of the Madras High Court in the __ uer,-j’

National Insuranee Cm, Ltd, »e…?ad:§:deathy V’
& Ora, cm No.114 of 2906._d€CfQed’

29.1.2007, wherein it was heid: ”

‘Income tax, Pmfeesioriai tax
which are deduc1fedu.._fi-om
salaried person. gaese-m-.’t_he””cefi’e13′”-A
of the Govenmient –‘_uniz’Zer’
head. and there’ ie…5’no ‘r-e’_lum:

Funcg _ .-Special V’ “Fund,
L1 Cf, C;’eit_fr£b1;ztr22n a:’e–v
Paid 7Gi’*«d the
eontnbufiien Hrepézyable to
time of
V._vo£untary–«V.. -death or for
’emy. Ofi’l.3?’~ Such
eo?a.et7ibution’§.Ama£2e by the salaried
e _ per-s&?!;”e:.re,*–defefi’ed payments and
they cire… «savings. The Supreme

as ewéu cw , High

have held that the

– payabie under the
‘ Mei’e3rV’§!ehides Act is statutory and

ti’-mt deferred payments made to

z the’ employee are contractual.

Cfsurts have held that there cannot
be any deductions in the etatutery

emnpensmian, gf the Legal

Representatives are entitled to
lumpsum payment under the
contractual liabflity. J’ the
contributions made by the employee
which are otherwise saving fiom
the salary are deducted from the
gross income wad only the net
income is taken for ccmzputing the

(–…..r””-“””\….a-

dependency compensation, then the
Legal Representatives of the victim

would lose considerable portion H l

the income. fit view of th,e~settle’.¥:l

proposition of law, I am of ‘1 ‘
the Tnlmnal cam make onlyV _
statutory such as V

and any other w}1ic.Pl”‘
is not repayable by
fmm the cf .deoec”23ed
person while ‘ ~. »
monthly
dependency ‘V l My

._.matie’ by the enapldyee

dw”?n9 ” ‘ Of the
c2:Lfi1,Vthl’ay*Vshozzlc_i_
T’ while
‘:§:or2’¢12’vulti’2%;:.”VV._»”‘l _ ‘ -dependency

eaqaressed by a
Single’ vlhldge of Andhru rradeah
in S;””Nanayanamma & Ore… v.

.’ of India, lfintmy
“9f’I’¢ie9:e:r2ag2:;n1ea~uons and am, xuzoom
2 533:3; ‘

. ‘In this background, now we will
the present deductions
made by the Tribunal fi’om the
salary of the clewased in fixing the
monthly contribution of the
deceased to his family. The
Tribunal has not even taken proper
care while deducting the amounts
firom the salary of the deceased, at
least the very nature of deductions
from the salary of the deceased’
My view is that the deductnlans

C’-

11..

washing allowance of Rs.292/- and Repast of ”

Bhatta of Rs.165/- and other allowance of T

the total of which comes to Rs. iv ‘1 * , ‘V

8. Following the pflnciylcs dovzfidd ‘tho V

Hoxvble Apex Court in the aboveo%isa:;1a¢c:si;m§, are
of the opinion that in
taking the monthly ‘ at
R36, 141/– V’ salary of
Rs. 1o,2oo/%%- R$.$,so7/- excluding
the not have been excluded.

The to the not monthly

of’~Rs.8;8’G7[_f___§§:1e deductions made from the

Rs.502/- towards family pension

towards contribution to provident

towards PF Advance and Rs.1m/-

ftoivéards ‘festival advance. If these deductions, the

of which comes to Rs.1083/- is added to the net

of Rs.8,80’?/-. the total comes to RS.9740/-.

Fugrthcr, the Tribunal ought to have added to this

amount a sum of R322 I/- being the contribution by

(~””””‘*’~al”_.”°”-‘–Iv-“”””””‘

I3

thf: empioycr to the Provident Fund equal to the

contribution of the deceased. If this is added

said amount of Rs. 9740/- the further total “V-3?’: ~

RS996}/–. The Tribunal was.j1.1stific:d””‘i£i.’;v»’i1ot’ ._ V

considezing Rs. 3264/- which, %%1n¢1usi=§¢

Rs.3,099/- which the

salaly and Rs.165/- wngch
Bhatta. But, it was ndf’
Rs.6’70/- “%J’1’owancc of
123.292/-; aI1d.Rs.3’78/-. If this
amount the said amount
of Rs.3fi”é4:/’ is»: RS996 1. /– the net

montly _ v,x{tv_:i(A:Ak:z i:i*1€ Tribunal ought to have

3 loss cf dependency comes to

kizys;:f:3§7«z§0′”(Rs,%9961 + Rs.670=0O -» Rs.3264.oo ==

This entire calculation may be

‘ ‘ ‘ 1 ‘ ~ . as under:

F”

‘$5

9. Ftlrther, the Tribunal 1.1;

prospects of promotion of asu
Driver and also periodieal
annual increments earned
throughout hhwas about
21 years. of the
whieh:”fl1e~. have earned as on the

date of Therefore, we have only

, ‘_ to wore:-: as to what would have been

the” of the deceased at the time of

supe;-axmuatufm, Therefore, we are of the considered

E taking into consideration the periodical

‘Ciflei*eB1ents, wage revision, bonus chances of

V’ piiemofion, ete., and also the statutory deductions

/”‘”–.5’4N”‘”‘”\-/”

towards Prefessional Tax, Income Tax, eI:e.._;–V ..

monthly income of the deceased could be ‘

estimating the loss 61″ dependenifi ‘to~

Rs.9,000/-~ p.m., as agai11st_R_s. 85

by us supra and also as
the Tribunal in the impegneri «L

10. If Rs.9,.§)00/- income of
the deeeasee / towards his
mrsenal to the famiiy
eozlsistifeegnv ef third respondent

Weuld be V.£€4S.6,G{)€)f}’ or Rs.72,000/- per

V It is.’ dispute that deceased was aged

as on the date of his death. Therefore,

:15 this Court in Gillan: Kinder’: case

H V .V 2W0 EAR 4416 the proper niultiplier

beadapted would be ‘:5’. But, in view of the fact

–‘ the deceased was a salaried person, he would

have earned full salary of Rs. 9000/- p.111., fill the

date of his superannuation and thereaftecr his inceme

by Way of pension Weuid have been reduced by 50%
(–~_…fW_””””””””

1:’?

Rs.10,000/- which shall be inclusive of

towards transportation of dead body and M

incidental expenses. The Tribtnlai not

any amount of compensation to 2,»

son of the deceased, «floss

affection’. Therefore, ‘_ hereby of
Rs.10,000/- in his

12. On ‘Judgment it
could be has awarded
a sum er Rs. hospital charges as

part of the ‘medical treatment given

_to me the date of accident on he died,

any amount towards actual cost

of by the claimant under the

‘ series. In this regard, the Tribunal

« ‘ohsei§ed at para. 13 of its Judgment that since

bills are of the same date, it is highly

. V “‘.io§ombabIe that on single day the patient might have

been administered with that much of medicines as
found therein worth more than Rs.1,000/– per day.

%

11.

3.7. Having regard to the

circumstances of the case, we feel that T ‘

submission” of the learned _

deserves acceptance. Third respoxidehnt n1ot2″1.e,.r” and ”

also both the appellants, the
deceased, have been the
iznpugled judgment in the
eompensatiort V their
respective ameunt which
has ‘.T__I’ibIur1aI. Therefore, WC do

not feel it IeamnabIe.VA’te:”ttisturb the same. However,

submissions of the learned

.appeHaJ1ts, we feel that the appellant

respectively 50% and 30% of the

aizeount of compensation and the 3rd

dtesdpondeat mother shall get 220% of it along with

A’ ___’~eropo1?t7ionate interest on their respective shares.

18. In View of the foregoing discussion, we
answer the mint raised for our detetmmaden in the
‘amrmetive’ and pass the following,

(~,\..,«..«-

«>29

portions ef the respective shares in
enhanced compensation Dambifi’ –
appellants and 3:” respondent. ,
respondent ~– Insurance ‘V _
deposit into the ”

amount of comperieeifiqn Wi1__:h

thereon as af<'3resaidV____§Fi1:;I1i1f;» fear T_ i§ree.3<s
from the date ._C;raufi11g.1ip.V_Qf'me modified
award. The aware in

4-

terms      ~. 

sal-

judge

    «sax.
  _____ .. v