High Court Karnataka High Court

Smt K Hemavathi vs K P Ramesha Naidu on 30 November, 2010

Karnataka High Court
Smt K Hemavathi vs K P Ramesha Naidu on 30 November, 2010
Author: N.K.Patil And H.S.Kempanna
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BANGALORE

DATED THIS THE 30"" DAY OF NOVEMBER, 

PRESENT

THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE N.K.PA-TEL. 1.;   

AND  

THE HONBLE MRJUSTICE.LI;'.S.KEMPA:.\fNA"

1VI.F.A.NO. 12625'/.2006" {Mm   
BETWEEN:  h A

I. SMTK HEMAVATHI    .
AGED ABOUT 35 YEARS 5 '

_t\.}

KAVYA  

AGED    _ --

3. MI1\TQR'NAVY_A  V. A 
AGED ABOU'1'.'16A.Y'E.ARS

 4.  NI"I{'I~IVI.I,_

A AGED ABOUT IZIYEARS

  IS THE WIFE AND

APPELLAN'_f--__NOs. 2 TO 4 ARE CHILDREN
OF' LA'1'E_I.< Ag.-IHOK AND 2 TO 4 ARE
REPRES~ENTED BY THEIR NATURAL GUARDIAN

  ' AND MOTHER APPELLANT NO.1

    GIRIJAMMA

 AGED ABOUT 68 YEARS
W/O. SHIVARAYAPPA

 6. SHIVARAYAPPA

AGED ABOUT 71 YEARS
S/O. LATE MARIYAPPA



2

ALL ARE R/O. NO. 199, 1*" FLOOR
LINK ROAD, SESI-IADRIPURAM
BANGALORE -20  APPELLANTS

{BY SRLMAHESH KIRAN SI"-IE1 III --ADV.)

AND:
1. K P RAMESHA NAIDU
AGED ABOUT 31 YEARS
S/O. KP. NAIDU  
R/O. 16TH PARVATHI NILAyA._%
V CROSS, AV. NAGAR  _ ' _
GAYATHRI EXTENSION,  _ 
RAMAMOORTHY NA*r.AR.'POST ~  
BANGALORE.  -   s  '

2. THE NATIONAL INSURANCEECO. I;TD.';
EXTENSION   I ._
SAGAR .A'LTfI'(;II_\/[I_3BILI:',S_;39,{'z;j I .
BANNERGIIATTA     

   .

RE.PR-E’s EN’ By –BRANCH MANAGER

3. JOHNLOBO” _ . _
AGED ABOUT:54″*{EARs
.. /O; SEBASTIAN LOBO
‘- ININDER ROAD;”‘GANGOLI,I VILLAGE

A _VKIINDAI3’URA TALUK

INSURANCE CO. LTD.,

‘ KUNDARURA BRANCH, MAIN ROAD
‘KUNDAPURA REPRESENTED BY
ITS BRANCH MANAGER …REsPONDENTs

‘~1Sf”IEYLSRI.s.V.HEGDE MULKIIAND — ADV. FOR R4.
_ ‘SRI.C.M.POONACHA FOR M/S. LEX PLEXUS FOR R-2,

R-3 SERVED, NOTICE TO R-I DISPENSED WITH

,,..v/O DATED 03.08.09)

THIS MFA IS FILED UNDER SECTION 173(1) OF MV
ACT AGAINST THE JUDGMENT AND AWARD DATED
22.08.2006 PASSED IN MVC NO.222/2003 ON THE FILE OF
THE CIVIL JUDGE {SR.DN.) & MEMBER ADDL. MACT.
KUNDAPURA, PARTLY OWING- THE CLAIM PETITION

3

FOR COMPENSATION AND SEEKING ENHANCEMENT OF
COMPENSATION.

THIS APPEAL COMING ON FOR FINAL

THIS DAY, 1\T.K.PAT1L J.. DELIVERED THE FOLLQW_lN§}; 2 K

J UD GMENT

This appeal by the ‘arise

impugned judgment and award

No.222/2003 passed by the-ficivii ju-dgei(sft.dn.) &

Member, Addl. MACT;

2. The T ribunalipbyiits.”V__impi”igne:dVfludgment and

award of 18,000/- with interest
at 6% from the petition till realisation as

against thelllclainiwof tliellclaimants for ?2,50,30,000/- on

C V. “‘acc”O1int”cf the deathwof the deceased late Sri.K.Ashok in

‘the;-roadftlrlaiffic.?accident.. The claimants claiming that

the”‘qua_§1tur;1Aof compensation awarded by the Tribunal.

JtoWards~–loss of dependency and conventional heads is

E.-i’nade’t:;uate, have presented this appeal.

3. The brief facts of the case are zw

Claimant No.1 is the wife, claimants 2, 3 and 4» are

._,………..w«»m»- -W’?

the minor children % claimants 5 and 6 are the

4

parents of the deceased. They filed claim petition under
Section 166 of the M.V. Act claiming compensation on

account of the death of late Sri.K.Ashok contending

that, on 9.2.2003 at about 3.30 p.m. when _

was proceeding from Murudeshwara towa’1’*dvs ‘:Banga1orel ‘» it

on NH. 17 in a Maruthi omni car’».bearing

MB 1233, due to the rash”aI:d_ negligent drivir1g,, vofl the

said car by its driver, ‘Nlaravanthgvl? village,
Kundapura Taluk, it on coming lorry

bearing Reg.No._KA–2O588’3 the said impact,

the d,_ecease’cl7.”–sustained’ -grievous injuries and

succumbed’ to the the spot. It is the further

case5;oil”v the claiinan_ts.that the deceased was aged about

‘3Iear,s,’~a’.contractor taking contract works from BSNL

andothlerl-‘V-Celntral Govt. organizations, getting income of

more t;han.%4,00,000/- p.a. after paying income tax and

A [fspending towards other incidental expenses. He was the

sole bread winner in the family. Due to his untimely

death, the claimants have suffered socially and

economically severely. The first claimant, being the

wife, has lost her h at the young age. claimants

..,’,,,,_…,»w–«-=-“”

F

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the income tax. and also the rebate the deceased has got

for having made investments from out of his total

income. Further, the Tribunal has also not aVVaI'(i.€Vtj_:jL1_VSt

and reasonable compensation towards the _

heads and therefore, he submits that V

award is liable to be modified 3

compensation.

6. As against this. th_€..l:Vllearn_»ed ‘Counsel? for the

insurer, interalia, coriten.de,d*},Vandsubstantiated the

judgment”l’an,d;’.”Tribunal stating that, the
Tribur1al.after of the oral and documentary

evidence and,_:oth.erAmateria1 on file has awarded just

°*a.nd’~– ‘ ireasonablefl ddddd H compensation and therefore.

I -interVfere’1″i.ee by_t~his Court is not called for.

A 7.v_.Aftve1’Aearefu1 consideration of the submission of

ll”-..VVV”‘theLlearned counsel on both sides and after perusal of

judgment and award of the Tribunal, the point that

l -arise for our consideration in this appeal is,

“Whether the quantum of Compensation awarded

by the Tribunal is just and reasonable?”

8. The occurrence of the accident and the

resultant death of the deceased are not in

Further, the age and occupation of the .

also not in dispute. The deceasedhad f_ile’d’.taxu T”

returns for the assessment yearsl’-:20Q’0–:{)l l’t.o”th’e

13,49,743/– p.a. for 2oo1–ol2″—:3,1e;e0%1riv/-‘i§l;é;,prand3 for = ”

200203 33,86,803/~p.a. a:r1.dVV:”lnc’on1ehltaxg has been
deducted and the netarrived at. The

average annual’ iI_1co:_r’1’1eV”c§or1:41lesVi”–,to V’ ‘<f3;50,861/~. The

insurerhas'=e§;amiif1Ved._lDW2~Ensurance officer. one Vijay
kumar, 'Who has this aspect. However, the

Tribunal has erred' in"-deducting $60,000/–, which is the

'lV."rebat.e 5=th.e"l'..deceasedAv has received for having made

investm.er1ts,lfafrom out of the average income of

and thereby arrived at the income of

p.a. and further deducted one-third

alolwards his personal expenses and adopted the

multiplier of 13 and calculated the compensation

towards loss of dependency at ?26,00.000/–_. which is

on the lower side. 1-lence, we 1'e–dete1'1r;i:1e the

/
/
//
_. ……. ,,._:;-3

8

compensation towards loss of dependency by taking the
annual income of the deceased at ?3.50,86l/–,

deducting one–fourth towards his personal expenses

[‘<'3,50,861/– minus ?87.715/– 2 %2,e3,14s,<ds)~.drc'e_;;nfjw..

having regard to the age of the deceased

as per the Apex court dE'CiSi0I1V=.lI1 S.ar1a':cVerrna's.'"V-case f

(2009 ACJ 1298), we aclopt7th__e mttltiplierparriife

at ?'36,84,044/– (?2,s3,146/{ding 14) dtoviiardspvfiloss of

dependency.

Further, we awa1’d..:?lVO,g(}Q(l.f/-v_- loss of

consortium; loss of estate and

?°2O,0OO/4’cfltowardsfd of love and affection and

A toward.sv___transportation of dead body, funeral

._0bvseqcuies.__ expenses thereby awarding totally

the conventional heads.

the appellants are entitled to total

if lmconiipenvsdation of ?37,34,044/~ as against ?26,18,000/–

‘ awarded by the Tribunal. The break up is as follows :-

1. Loss of dependency $36,811,044/-

2.ToWards Loss of consortium ? 10,000/–

3.Towards Loss of estate ? 10,000’/”‘

4.Towards Loss of love and affection ?° ~

5. Towards transportation of dead ? T’
Body, funeral and obsequies * A
Expenses _ “,«. ”

.. g;

,’.E.

Total _ ?37′,–3rl,’G44)f§”‘~ A

The enhanced . cornpepiisatoion ‘ A ‘ cornes to

?1 1,165,044/~ which carries p.a. from the

date ofthe ir’eal’i~sation .

51-0,’ Ha’wL.ng”r’ega’rdwto the facts and circumstances

ffof as above, the appeal is allowed in

apart. and award of the Tribunal in MVC

_ No.2′;?,2/_’2O-(ABAdt.22.8.2OO6 is modified. The appellants

Dherepin are entitled the compensation of ?1l_.l6,044/~

with ‘interest at 6% p.a. from the date of the petition till

~ “realisation, in addition to the compensation awarded by

if the Tribunal. .

it}

The second respondent –insurance company shall

deposit the enhanced compensation within 4 weeks

from the date of receipt of the certified copyvpofhthis

judgment and award.

From out of the enhanced compensatio.n:,«_ the

apportionment to the appellants is as.1’loiilo*12\fsA.jé’*- 4′ V

1)

A chvildlrenl of

?5,00.000/– with prope.1_jtionat,_e’ inter;ev’sft{.:sl:y1V§’;l1li he

invested in the name appellant:vll\lo.fi1wwife of
deceased in any “natiyohalisedy/scihedule bank for a

periods. of fiveiyearslplrenetyalble by another five years

With’ l.iberty the interest accrued on it

_ .periodicaily:

..’A:?8O.O’0O/M each with proportionate interest shall

in the names of appellants 2 to 4~

deceased in any

to nationalised/scheduled bank for five years,

-Alrenewable for another five years with liberty to

them to Withdraw interest accrued on it

periodically for their Welfare; and ‘<'20,000/~ each

/

ffirm
,4"

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1]

with proportionate interest shall be releasfedo in

favour of appellants 2 to 4.

?1,00,000 each with proportionate tlier b
names of appellants 5 anc1;:6–pa:fents’:

shall be invested in,*a.ny nationaliaed/,sehe§;i1ile

bank for a period of ‘.,Vlrev:r1eV’itable by
another three Egeétrs 1’ to “them to
withdraw the “periodically;

The shall
be to appellants 1,5
and_’6 deposit by the insurer.

Gffieev to thee’ award accordingly.

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