IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BANGA{.OREjf.
DATED THIS THE 4'?" DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2o1.e__l',' ,1
BEFORE
THE HOi\£'BLE MR. JUSTICE
MISCELLANEOUS FIRST APPEAl_ N0,5..3:54.[2QQ§_';(R§ T) A' "
BETWEEN:
1. T.H. Kenchappa S/o Hanu'm.anta'pp'a',
Aged about 58 years, . --_
2. Smt. Sharadammaw/o T,.,.H;'r»:(énci:a.'ppa.,"_
Aged about 48 y;ea'r«S,_Z'- .» 'V '
Both are reSidir}g'l.atj_ _ ..
Tadaga V§vEia'ge, Shivani--p'oSt..
Tarikere Taluk,v'..g . _'
Chikamag'a_Eu"r-- 'bistnct. " __ Appellants
(By Sri. M.A. Ma'lv.i_V%&v.Sr'i.-__lVE;.R'.'lcfiremathad, Advocates)
., .....
Urailori .
Repré'se'n'ted 'rm/"t,¥f1ev.Gr;éneral Manager,
Western .Ra'ilw'ay, Hubli. Respondent
S__ri. N.’S; fiS’anjay Gowda, Advocate )
. ” .Thi,s_,’l?>1iSCellaneous First Appeal is filed under Section 23(1)
‘-‘=.of–.t.l1e’–RaiIway Claims Tribunal Act against the Judgment dated
A ‘*.?,?..6._y2{3iG8 passed in O.A.No.67/2006 on the file of the Railway
CE’a.imS Tribunal, Bangalore Bench allowing the claim petition for
fig
compensation and seeking interest from the date of petition till
realisation.
This Miscellaneous First Appeal coming on for Admi.ssiVo’nflihVis.V
day, the Court delivered the following:
This Miscellaneous First Appeal is filedi_-uinrjeri,Seetioi123(1)’
of the Railway Claims Tribunal Actiilagainstiizhwe Hdatevd
27.6.2008 passed in O.A.No.67/200ok”o’n the fiie ‘theV}Railway
Claims Tribunal, Bangalore Bench’ aiV_llo§gvi.Vng.._the’~claim petition for
compensation and seeking inAte.re_sjt from of petition till
its realisation.
2. with learned counsel for the
appellants as vveilpas Vilearne-d’,eounsei for the respondent, this
matter isV_**li’ea:rd on me’rits…sii~ace the point involved in this appeal
isV’Gnly;.Vwith question of awarding interest. The
:””ii.._materia’is. ‘plifacediibefore this Court are sufficient to dispose of this
_:7’ii.matter at wastage.
primary facts of the case as stated in the
“rnemo_.ra:ndum of appeal are as under:
sf’
That on 18.8.2006 one T.K. Krishna, who is the son of the
appellants was travelling as a bonafide passenger En.g–‘H.gbli
Bangalore passenger train (Train No.582) and he was V.
a valid journey ticket to travel from Ajjampur to Aresikerre;
was lost. The train was overcrowded’an’d’~the deceased’was”‘.
forced to stand near the door and as train toQ’k”a
Banavar Railway Station, the decease:5~–ifell train V
by losing his balance and'”s.l_i&pped'””acclduentally”a’nd'”Vseverely
injured and died. The apple;-larrtsvlvhavegfilledlllppetition in O.A.
l\lO.67/2006 before Ethecfiailway :_C’l.alim«sA”ilri:bu_n_ajl.V
4. Theifisum’ alndvsu_yl§’stgance—-of’ the finding of the Tribunal is
as under:
The._firEbunal considering the oral and documentary
evidenceandwAalsoithe materials placed on record, has awarded a
complenére:le«eh I&;§g’r<é§cl.4';oo,ooo/~ for the death of the deceased
Vftogether vvith"–.'l:nte'Eest thereon at 9% per annum from the date of
Order till the date of actual payment.
— ll’-‘eeling aggrieved by the impugned order, the appellants
‘ the legal representatives of the deceased T.K. Krishna, have
ex’
preferred this appeal. In this appeal, the appellants attackedthe
order pertaining to award of interest from the date of
6. Learned counsel for the appellant subrn”i”ts that
Railway Claims Tribunal has awarded in:teAre’straVt’~9%
from the date of the Judgment and _C)rcleiv._til’l-._the date’ of amine.
payment. He further submits that ‘was
filed before the Claims Tribun’a.l_ resp’ondent has
filed its reply on 27.7.2007 of on
27.6.2008. Therero.reCi.ritterei;?§t to’::’t.ie–..a_ig.}iarded at 9% per
annum from the tillithe date of order. In
support of his c0a1ten’tié.0n;’he”-relies’ on the unreported judgment
of this Court in–___the Rachamma and others .vs.
Union of If?l:C|ivai’?n Mi=’A..;_\:;g:3vV.’761:6/2007 disposed of on 22.4.2009.
itziousnel for the respondent supports the
and Award.
“‘iv.”;._:8.:T_he’oniy question that arises for my consideration is
appellants are entitled for interest from the date of
1’
& “‘
application or from the date of the order. My answer to the
above question is as under for the foiiowing reasons:
9. As per Section–2 of the Interest Act, 1978, V’
context otherwise requires, “Court” inciudes a Trib’unai,j;anid’banjo ”
Arbitrator.
10. Section~–3 of the Interest’/Act
Court to aiiow interest. Section*3″–oi”~t,he Interest as it
unden
“3. Power of Court to iaiiowi In any
proceeding debt or damages
or in any ,,i’nii.iriii1.ic’h-ta claim for interest in
respect of “any Vidéebt o”r«._,:da’n’aages aiready paid is
made, the m’.ay,’=_ifVitthinks fit, aiiow interest to
thef;5«ers_on ,entiti”ed…to.the debt or damages or to the
iApers:on_yn§a:<.i4rag, such claim, as the case may be, at a
'rate the current rate of interest, for
the.__yvhoVi.e–'o'ij 'part of the foliowing period, that is to
say,~ .. i
ifthe proceedings reiate to a debt payable by
" ..*yirtue of a written instrument at a certain time,
then, from the date when the debt is payable
to the date of institution of the proceedings;
it/'
date of institution of the proceedings, uniess
the Court is satisfied that there are special____
reasons why no interest should be given
respect of those damages.
(3) Nothing in this section, –
a)shaii apply in relation to’;-
i) any debt or damé’€3_e§.’_iipoa-§~.,,’li\;–g*iiCh
interest is payable as of.
virtue of any agreement; or ” _
EE) any debt~.__or Hliwhich
payment’ of’ ii’is*».:Lba.rred, by
virtue of an e§tpres.s,ag.ree:rne’nt;
(b) sli’ra”l’lv r
i)’ “7iaje_,jcontpertsation recoverable for the
l 4′ a bili of exchange,
pwromisvsoryw note or cheque, as
‘d’ef§.n_ed in Negotiable Instruments
V y Act, 1881; or
\ provisions of Rule 2 of Order II of
L’ the First Schedule to the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908;
V
shat! empower the Court to award interest
‘ upon interest. ”
t;./
11. Normally the Court of equity exercises jurisdictiyonyto
allow interest, therefore to invoke such equitable it
would be necessary to establish existence of .Vci’rcun1fs’talnces..l_’
which attracts equitable jurisdiction. i;iul}ti;e.–,.
Railway Claims Tribunal (Procedure) RulVes,;”1._989
the adjournment shall not be granted”i«ir:Vn’ore tha’n_V_t’hre.e’Vto a
party during the proceedings Ru4le~15-of
the Railway Claims Tribunal says that
respondent may fileiit$”AivFé’D|y:=Ato copies of the
documents on In the instant case,
though the presented on 12.12.2006, the
respondent hasnaed :ii§’Vi%r¢qpl&il,o;niris’.7.2007 and the Tribunal has
delivered the 3udl<jrnent.yo*–n 26.V6.2O08.
«_ 12..»»'~i-Learned co"u-n.se_l__éfor the appellants seeks for awarding
ofdinterestVfro_n:.ythVe"»date of filing the claim petition. In support
df the'*sa':<rieV,.'rje:.lVies on the decision of this Court in MFA
C7.._yifio.'7V616/20;)? disposed of on 22.4.2009. I have perused the
,j.=said.]decis.i.onV."' In the said decision, this Court has awarded
from the date of filing the claim application. As stated
if
earlier, Section»-2 of the Interest Act includes a Tribunal and an
Arbitrator. Section»~3 of the Interest Act permits the Court to
allow interest. Therefore the Tribunal can award interest.
the discretion is left to the Tribunal and the
award interest having regard to the factsanri ,circurnlst'ances.~ of
the case. In the instant case, thoughlA"the—-_c'lainil"petition'
presented on 12.12.2006, the reslpondegnt has.filedj'v_,its~rVrepl$,r on I I
27.7.2007 and the Tribunai,_has,i:ieiii):ere'd._.theé"3'u~dg'n1ent on
27.6.2008. Statement of owls maiiaajs ar the Railway
Clairns Tribunal Act, th"atas the litigation
in the Courts'I'ofVlaw.:and': Commissioners is very
protracted, set up a specialized Tribunal
for speedy,'a_djudi'cati'on_Gf s'dcVh""ciaims. The setting up of such a
C'laVims,T'-ribunal with "xB"enc'i*i7es in different parts of the country,
'technical members, will provide much relief
the rai_l4:§users"by*way of expeditious payment of compensation
victims of rail-accidents and to those whose goods are lost
It-'.V,or._ in the rail transit. This being the object of the
I Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 and also in View of Section~3
otlfihe Interest Act and since the claim petition was disposed of
Q./'
10
on 27.6.2008, though the same was filed on 122.2006, in my
view the appetlants are ehtitied for interest from the date of
fiiing the claim application till the date of order.
there is an inordinate deiay in preferring this appea__E,””‘ir:::
the appellants are entitled for interest frorn ‘t’he._vd’4ate’oAf_”fE.l_iraVg”the’.
claim application till the date of the order. only not “tilt’:.¢”t’l~.¢”~.
date of reatisatioh.
13. In view of the aboxrezgliset:ss_i’ot:§.,._VI.vg’p’ass thelwfolvlowing:
2) The order pertaining award the date of
order is modified and ihte_rest isvv._a’w.ai’cled._from the date of
filing the ctaim application tiE’l’th_Ve date of the order.
safe
ropes