{"id":94519,"date":"2010-02-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/national-vs-pritamsinh-on-11-february-2010"},"modified":"2018-06-30T02:17:31","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T20:47:31","slug":"national-vs-pritamsinh-on-11-february-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/national-vs-pritamsinh-on-11-february-2010","title":{"rendered":"National vs Pritamsinh on 11 February, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Gujarat High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">National vs Pritamsinh on 11 February, 2010<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: H.K.Rathod,&amp;Nbsp;<\/div>\n<pre>   Gujarat High Court Case Information System \n\n  \n  \n    \n\n \n \n    \t      \n         \n\t    \n\t\t   Print\n\t\t\t\t          \n\n  \n\n\n\t \n\t \n\t \n\t \n\t \n\t \n\t \n\t \n\t \n\t\n\n\n \n\n\n\t \n\nFA\/254\/2010\t 12\/ 14\tORDER \n \n\n\t\n\n \n\nIN\nTHE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD\n \n\n \n\n\n \n\nFIRST\nAPPEAL No. 254 of 2010\n \n\nWith\n\n\n \n\nCIVIL\nAPPLICATION No. 1545 of 2009\n \n\n=========================================================\n\n\n \n\nNATIONAL\nINSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED - Appellant(s)\n \n\nVersus\n \n\nPRITAMSINH\nNATWARSINH CHAUHAN &amp; 3 - Defendant(s)\n \n\n=========================================================\nAppearance : \nMS\nMEGHA JANI for\nAppellant(s) : 1, \nNone for Defendant(s) : 1, 1.2.1, 1.2.2,\n1.2.3,1.2.4 -\n4. \n=========================================================\n\n\n \n\t  \n\t \n\t  \n\t\t \n\t\t\t \n\nCORAM\n\t\t\t: \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\t \n\nHONOURABLE\n\t\t\tMR.JUSTICE H.K.RATHOD\n\t\t\n\t\n\n \n\nDate\n: 11\/02\/2010 \n\n \n\n \n \nORAL\nORDER<\/pre>\n<p>Heard<br \/>\n\tlearned Advocate Ms. Megha Jani appearing on behalf of<br \/>\n\tappellant-National Insurance Company Limited. The appellant<br \/>\n\tInsurance Company has challenged the award passed by Motor Accident<br \/>\n\tClaims Tribunal, Godhra in MACP No.1707\/2002 Exhibit 34 decided on<br \/>\n\t16.05.2009. Before Claims Tribunal, Godhra, respondents No.1 and 2<br \/>\n\tremained absent and appellant-National Insurance Company Ltd. has<br \/>\n\tappeared. Claims Tribunal has awarded Rs.6,86,000\/= being amount of<br \/>\n\tcompensation in favour of respondent claimant with 7.5% interest.<br \/>\n\tClaim petition was filed by claimant under Section 166 of Motors<br \/>\n\tVehicle Act.  Claim petition arises out of an accident which took<br \/>\n\tplace on 15.12.2001 as the deceased   Mahendrasinh Natwarsinh<br \/>\n\tChauhan who was going on his bicycle was dashed by a Jeep bearing<br \/>\n\tregistration No.GJ-17-C-4911. Claims Tribunal held the driver of the<br \/>\n\tjeep negligent for the accident and awarded compensation of<br \/>\n\tRs.6,86,000\/= to the claimant and it was challenged by appellant to<br \/>\n\tthe extent of Rs.2,79,000\/= only.  Learned Advocate Ms. Megha Jani<br \/>\n\tsubmitted  that income of deceased has been wrongly assessed by<br \/>\n\tClaims Tribunal as Rs.3,000\/= without any cogent evidence being<br \/>\n\tproduced by claimant.  She further stated that the deceased was<br \/>\n\tunmarried. Therefore, as per recent decision of Apex Court in the<br \/>\n\tcase of <a href=\"\/doc\/837924\/\">Sarla Verma (Smt) and Others V. Delhi Transport<br \/>\n\tCorporation and<\/a> another reported in 2009 6 Scale 129<br \/>\n\tone half amount is to be deducted towards personal expenses instead<br \/>\n\tof deducting 1\/3rd while assessing loss of dependency.<br \/>\n\tThe deceased was a bachelor and claimants happened to be brothers of<br \/>\n\tthe deceased who were dependents of the deceased.  The legal<br \/>\n\trepresentatives of the deceased would be at the most be entitled to<br \/>\n\tget the amount towards loss of estate of the deceased.  The<br \/>\n\trespondent No.2-Karnavirsinh Mahavirsinh Chauhan  is the nephew of<br \/>\n\tthe deceased and he was the adopted son of the deceased but Claims<br \/>\n\tTribunal has not accepted this version of the claimant and<br \/>\n\ttherefore, has not awarded compensation to respondent No.2.  She<br \/>\n\talso submitted that Claims Tribunal has wrongly relied upon the<br \/>\n\tdecision of this Court reported in 2005 (2) G.L.H. 85<br \/>\n\tincase of New India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Ashwin Vrajlal<br \/>\n\tRajgor. She submitted that this decision is not applicable<br \/>\n\tbecause in absence of any Class I heir, the nephew of the deceased<br \/>\n\twho comes within the purview of Class II heir, under Hindu<br \/>\n\tSuccession Act is entitled to get compensation. In present case,<br \/>\n\twhen representatives of Class I heir are already on record, the<br \/>\n\tTribunal ought not to have awarded any amount to respondent No.2, in<br \/>\n\tview of deceased who happens to be Class II heir as per the Hindu<br \/>\n\tSuccession Act, 1956. The multiplier of 16 adopted by Tribunal is on<br \/>\n\thigher side.  The Tribunal ought not to have applied a multiplier of<br \/>\n\tmore than 11 considering that real claimants were brothers and<br \/>\n\tsister of the deceased aged 53, 48, 46 and 44; except this no other<br \/>\n\tsubmissions have been made before this Court by learned Advocate Ms.<br \/>\n\tMegha Jani.\n<\/p>\n<p>I<br \/>\n\thave considered submissions made by learned Advocate Ms. Megha Jani<br \/>\n\tand I have also perused the award passed by Claims Tribunal, Godhra.<br \/>\n\tThe accident occurred on 15.12.2001 when the deceased going on a<br \/>\n\tbicycle on reaching near Village Chenpur and coming from Devgadh<br \/>\n\tBaria, in a rash and negligent manner, opponent No.1 driver of Jeep<br \/>\n\tNo.GJ-17-C-4911 dashed with the bicycle and resulting in serious<br \/>\n\tinjury to Mahendrasinh Natwarsinh Chauhan. Ultimately during<br \/>\n\ttreatment after six days on 21.12.2001,  Mahendrasinh Natwarsinh<br \/>\n\tChauhan expired because of serious injuries sustained in the<br \/>\n\taccident.  First Information Report was lodged against driver of<br \/>\n\tjeep in Devgadh Baria Police Station No.249\/01.  Respondents No.1<br \/>\n\tand 2 remained absent.  Therefore, ex-parte proceedings were<br \/>\n\tinitiated against them.  Insurance Company filed a reply, Exhibit\n<\/p>\n<p>\t21. Claimant has produced documents vide Exhibit 19 as referred in<br \/>\n\tParagraph 4 as under :-\n<\/p>\n<p>1)<br \/>\n\tCopy of medical bills of deceased- Mahendrasinh Natwarsinh Chauhan,<br \/>\n\tAnnexures 1 to 22 totalling to Rs.77,679.27.\n<\/p>\n<p>2)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof First Information Report.\n<\/p>\n<p>3)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof Panchnama of place of accident.\n<\/p>\n<p>4)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof Inquest Panchnama of body of the deceased- Mahendrasinh<br \/>\n\tNatwarsinh Chauhan.\n<\/p>\n<p>5)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof Post Mortem note of deceased- Mahendrasinh Natwarsinh Chauhan.\n<\/p>\n<p>6)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof Driving License of opponent No.1.\n<\/p>\n<p>7)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof R.C. Book of vehicle involved in the accident.\n<\/p>\n<p>8)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof Insurance Policy of vehicle involved in the accident.\n<\/p>\n<p>9)\tCopy<br \/>\n\tof chargesheet.\n<\/p>\n<p>It<br \/>\n\tis necessary to note that appellant&#8217;s advocate, Ms. Jani has not<br \/>\n\tchallenged the question of negligence decided by Claims Tribunal,<br \/>\n\tGodhra before this Court.  Therefore, this Court is not examining<br \/>\n\tquestion of negligence which has been rightly decided by Claims<br \/>\n\tTribunal.  Therefore, issue no.1 has been decided by Claims Tribunal<br \/>\n\tconsidering FIR-Exhibit 25 and evidence of claimant.  The driver of<br \/>\n\tjeep had not appeared before Claims Tribunal and had not explained<br \/>\n\tthe accident and has not filed any reply to claim petition.<br \/>\n\tAccording to claimant, deceased was earning Rs.6,000\/= from<br \/>\n\tagricultural work and from STD PCO Booth, but no cogent evidence is<br \/>\n\tproduced by claimant.   Therefore, considering date of accident as<br \/>\n\t15.12.2001 and having income from agricultural work as well as from<br \/>\n\tSTD PCO Booth and maintaining a family, Claims Tribunal has assessed<br \/>\n\tRs.3,000\/= as being the income of deceased.  Thereafter, future<br \/>\n\tprospective income has been considered after deducting 1\/3rd,<br \/>\n\tRs.3000\/= amount comes to being a dependency and yearly, it comes to<br \/>\n\tRs.36,000\/= and looking to the age of the deceased as 35 years, 16<br \/>\n\tmultiplier has been applied and Rs.15,000\/= has been awarded for<br \/>\n\tloss of estate and Rs.80,000\/= has been awarded for medical expenses<br \/>\n\tand Rs.10,000\/= for pain, shock and suffering and Rs.5,000\/= for<br \/>\n\tfuneral expenses and transportation charges.  Hence, the  total<br \/>\n\tamount comes to Rs.6,86,000\/=.\n<\/p>\n<p>A<br \/>\n\tcontention was raised by learned Advocate, Ms. Megha Jani that<br \/>\n\tdeceased was unmarried. Therefore, 1\/3rd amount is to be<br \/>\n\tconsidered as dependency and 2\/3rd amount is to be<br \/>\n\tdeducted for personal expenses and relying upon the Apex Court&#8217;s<br \/>\n\tdecision in case of Sarla Verma (supra), 50% amount is<br \/>\n\tto be deducted  from income.\n<\/p>\n<p>I<br \/>\n\thave considered the submissions made by learned Advocate Ms. Jani.<br \/>\n\tSuch submissions cannot be accepted because deceased was aged 35<br \/>\n\tyears which means that deceased was of a marriageable age.<br \/>\n\tTherefore, even in near future he must have acquired a family as per<br \/>\n\tdecision of Apex Court in case of <a href=\"\/doc\/35549\/\">Bijoy Kumar Dugar V.<br \/>\n\tBidyadhar Dutta &amp; Ors.<\/a> reported in AIR 2006 SC<br \/>\n\t1255.  Relevant paragraphs are quoted as under :-\n<\/p>\n<p> The<br \/>\n\tdeceased, a young boy of 24 years old, was unmarried and the<br \/>\n\tclaimants were his father and mother, the dependency has to be<br \/>\n\tcalculated on the basis that within two or three years the deceased<br \/>\n\twould have married and raised family and the monthly allowance he<br \/>\n\twas giving to his parents would have been cut down.  Thus, in our<br \/>\n\tview, the MACT has awarded just and reasonable compensation to the<br \/>\n\tclaimants.\n<\/p>\n<p>In<br \/>\n\tcase of <a href=\"\/doc\/1786856\/\">Bilkish V. United India Insurance Co. Ltd.<\/a><br \/>\n\treported in 2008 ACJ 1357, relevant paragraph is<br \/>\n\tquoted as under :-\n<\/p>\n<p> 4.<br \/>\n\tAfter hearing learned counsel for the parties, we are of the opinion<br \/>\n\tthat the view taken by High Court and Tribunal is not correct. The<br \/>\n\tincumbent was a bachelor and he could not have spent more than 1\/3rd<br \/>\n\tof his total income for personal use and rest of the amount earned<br \/>\n\tby him would certainly go to the family kitty.  Therefore,<br \/>\n\tdetermining the loss of dependency by 50 per cent was not correct.<br \/>\n\tTherefore, we assess that he must be spending 1\/3rd for<br \/>\n\tpersonal use and contributing 2\/3rd of his income to his<br \/>\n\tfamily.  Therefore, we work out that Rs.30,000\/= was earned by him<br \/>\n\tper annum.  The loss of dependency was 2\/3rd, i.e.,<br \/>\n\tRs.20,000.  The multiplier of &#8217;11&#8217; applied for loss of dependency<br \/>\n\twas also not correct and as per Schedule appended to the Motor<br \/>\n\tVehicles Act, 1988, it should be &#8217;12&#8217;.  Applying the multiplier of<br \/>\n\t12 the total loss of dependency will be Rs.20,000 x 12 = Rs.2,40,000<br \/>\n\tand Rs.10,000 towards loss to estate and funeral expenses, the total<br \/>\n\tcompensation comes to Rs.2,50,000 and incumbent is entitled for<br \/>\n\tinterest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of the<br \/>\n\tpetition.  The appeal is allowed within the aforesaid modification.<br \/>\n\tIf any amount has already been paid to claimant then that amount may<br \/>\n\tbe deducted from the total amount.  Consequently, the appeal is<br \/>\n\tallowed in part with no order as to costs.\n<\/p>\n<p>Therefore,<br \/>\n\tin view of aforesaid decisions, when the deceased was having a<br \/>\n\tmarriageable age and may have acquired a family in near passage of<br \/>\n\ttime, even 1\/3rd amount is to be deducted being the<br \/>\n\tpersonal expenses of such a deceased. Therefore, in my opinion,<br \/>\n\tClaims Tribunal has rightly deducted 1\/3rd amount as<br \/>\n\tbeing the personal expenses.  In recent decision of Apex Court in<br \/>\n\tcase of Kimlibhai<br \/>\n\treported in 2009 6 Supreme 106, wherein a carpenter<br \/>\n\twho had died in accident having age of 40 years had not produced<br \/>\n\tcogent evidence for proving income of deceased. The accident had<br \/>\n\toccurred in the year 1997 even though Apex Court has assessed income<br \/>\n\tof carpenter who died in accident at Rs.3,000\/= per month and 17<br \/>\n\tmultiplier has been applied considering age of deceased as 40 years.<br \/>\n\tTherefore, in light of the recent decision of Apex Court looking to<br \/>\n\tage of deceased- Mahendrasinh Natwarsinh Chauhan, 16 multiplier has<br \/>\n\tbeen rightly applied by Claims Tribunal.  Hence, Claims Tribunal has<br \/>\n\tnot committed any error which requires interference by this Court.<br \/>\n\tThe future prospective income of deceased is also rightly considered<br \/>\n\tby Claims Tribunal in light of decision of Apex Court in case of<br \/>\n\tGeneral Manager, Kerala S.R.T.C. Vs. Susamma Thomas reported<br \/>\n\tin AIR 1994 SC Page 1631  and in case of<br \/>\n\tSmt. Sarla Dixit &amp; Anr. Vs. Balwant Yadav &amp; Anr.<br \/>\n\treported in AIR 1996 SC Page 1274 and incase of<br \/>\n\tRitaben alias Vanitaben Wd\/o. Dipakbhai Hariram and Anr. Vs.<br \/>\n\tAhmedabad Municipal Transport Service<br \/>\n\treported in 1998(2) GLH 670.  Therefore,<br \/>\n\tno error is committed by Claims Tribunal in considering future<br \/>\n\tprospective income of deceased.  Amount of medical expenses are<br \/>\n\tbased on medical bills collectively produced vide Exhibit 34 which<br \/>\n\tare not disputed by appellant&#8217;s Advocate before Claims Tribunal.<br \/>\n\tTherefore, in my opinion, the amount passed in favour of the<br \/>\n\tclaimant by the Claims Tribunal is reasonable just and proper.\n<\/p>\n<p>One<br \/>\n\tcontention has been raised by appellant-Insurance Company before<br \/>\n\tClaims Tribunal that father of Mahendrasinh Natwarsinh Chauhan<br \/>\n\texpired during pendency of claim petition. Therefore, present<br \/>\n\trespondent No.1\/1 to 1\/4 and respondent No.2 minor are joined as<br \/>\n\tlegal heirs and representatives of deceased.  The contention is that<br \/>\n\tclaimants now have become the brother and sister and adopted son<br \/>\n\tbeing nephew. Therefore, they are not entitled to any amount of<br \/>\n\tcompensations because they are not dependents of deceased.  The<br \/>\n\tdecision of Apex Court relied upon by claimants before Tribunal in<br \/>\n\tthe case of <a href=\"\/doc\/940313\/\">Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation V.<br \/>\n\tRamanbhai Prabhatbhai and Others<\/a> in S.L.P. (Civil)<br \/>\n\tNo.2802\/1987 TAC (1950-95) SC Page 198. In the aforesaid<br \/>\n\tdecision, Apex Court has examined question as to who is to be<br \/>\n\tconsidered as legal representative of deceased. In the aforesaid<br \/>\n\tdecision, brother and sister of the deceased are considered to be<br \/>\n\tlegal representative and aforesaid decision is relied upon by<br \/>\n\tlearned Advocate, Mr. P.R. Desai appearing on behalf of claimants. A<br \/>\n\tsecond decision of this Court reported in the case of New<br \/>\n\tIndia Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Ashwin Vrajlal Rajgor (supra) is<br \/>\n\talso relied by the Advocate of the claimant and on that basis,<br \/>\n\tcontention raised by Advocate of Insurance Company has been rejected<br \/>\n\tby Claims Tribunal.  The Division Bench of this Court has examined<br \/>\n\tthis issue while considering provisions of Hindu Succession Act,<br \/>\n\t1956 as discussed in Paragraphs 4 and 5 which are quoted as under :-\n<\/p>\n<p> 4.<br \/>\n\tQuestion with regard to claimants being legal heirs \/ legal<br \/>\n\trepresentatives of the deceased should not detain us for long<br \/>\n\tkeeping in view the broad and liberal nature of the legislation and<br \/>\n\tthe decision of this Court in Megjibhai Khimji Vira and another v.<br \/>\n\tChaturbhai Taljabhai and others (AIR 1977 Gujarat 195) wherein the<br \/>\n\tDivision Bench speaking through Ahmadi J. (as His Lordship then was)<br \/>\n\theld that claims for compensation arising out of the use of a motor<br \/>\n\tvehicle can be maintained by the brothers and nephews of the<br \/>\n\tdeceased who are legal representatives.  This decision is approved<br \/>\n\tby the Apex Court in Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation,<br \/>\n\tAhmedabad v Ramanbhai Prabhatbhai and another (AIR 1987 SC 1690).<br \/>\n\tIn paragraph 9, the Apex Court said :\n<\/p>\n<p> Clauses\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(b) and (c) of sub-sec.(1) of S.110-A of the Act provide that an<br \/>\n\tapplication for compensation arising out of an accident may be made<br \/>\n\twhere death has resulted from the accident by all or any of the<br \/>\n\tlegal representatives of the deceased or by any agent duly<br \/>\n\tauthorised by all or any of the legal representatives of the<br \/>\n\tdeceased.  The proviso to sub-s. (1) of S.110_a provides that where<br \/>\n\tall the legal representatives of the deceased have not joined in any<br \/>\n\tsuch application for compensation, the application shall be made on<br \/>\n\tbehalf of or for the benefit of all the legal representatives of the<br \/>\n\tdeceased and the legal representatives who have not so joined shall<br \/>\n\tbe impleaded as respondents to the application.  The expression<br \/>\n\t&#8216;legal representative&#8217; has not been defined in the Act. Section<br \/>\n\t2(11) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 defines &#8216;legal<br \/>\n\trepresentative&#8217; as a person who in law represents the estate of a<br \/>\n\tdeceased person and includes any person who intermeddles with the<br \/>\n\testate of the deceased and where a party sues or is sued in a<br \/>\n\trepresentative character the person on whom the estate devolves on<br \/>\n\tthe death of the party so suing or sued.  The above definition, no<br \/>\n\tdoubt, in terms does not apply to a case before the Claims Tribunal<br \/>\n\tbut it has to be stated that even in ordinary parlance the said<br \/>\n\texpression is understood almost in the same way in which it is<br \/>\n\tdefined in the Code of Civil Procedure.  A legal representative<br \/>\n\tordinarily means a person who in law represents the estate of a<br \/>\n\tdeceased person or a person on whom the estate devolvs on the death<br \/>\n\tof an individual.  Clause (b) of sub-sec.(1) of S. 110A of the Act<br \/>\n\tauthorises all or any of the legal representatives of the deceased<br \/>\n\tto make an application for compensation before the Claims Tribunal<br \/>\n\tfor the death of the deceased on account of a motor vehicle accident<br \/>\n\tand Cl.(c) of that sub-section authorises any agent duly authorised<br \/>\n\tby all or any of the legal representatives of the deceased to make<br \/>\n\tit.  The proviso to sub-s.(1) of S.110-A of the Act appears to be of<br \/>\n\tsome significance.  It provides that the application for<br \/>\n\tcompensation shall be made on behalf of or for the benefit of all<br \/>\n\tthe legal representatives of the deceased.  Section 110-A(1) of the<br \/>\n\tAct thus expressly states that (i) an application for compensation<br \/>\n\tmay be made by the legal representative of the deceased or their<br \/>\n\tagent and (ii) that such application shall be made on behalf of or<br \/>\n\tfor the benefit of all the legal representatives.  Both the person<br \/>\n\tor persons who can make an application for compensation and the<br \/>\n\tperson for whose benefit such application can be made are thus<br \/>\n\tindicated in S.110-A of the Act.  This section in a way is<br \/>\n\tsubstitute to the extent indicated above for the provisions of S.1A<br \/>\n\tof the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 which provides that  every such<br \/>\n\taction or suit shall be for the benefit of the wife, husband, parent<br \/>\n\tand child, if any, of the person whose death shall have been so<br \/>\n\tcaused, and shall be brought by and in the name of the executor,<br \/>\n\tadministrator or representative of the person deceased.  While the<br \/>\n\tFatal Accidents Act, 1855 provides that such suit shall be for the<br \/>\n\tbenefit of the wife, husband, parent and child of the deceased,<br \/>\n\tS.110-A(1) of the Act says that the application shall be made on<br \/>\n\tbehalf of or for the benefit of the legal representatives of the<br \/>\n\tdeceased.  A legal representative in a given case need not<br \/>\n\tnecessarily be a wife, husband, parent and child.  It is further<br \/>\n\tseen from S.110-B of the Act that Claims Tribunal is authorised to<br \/>\n\tmake an award determining the amount of compensation which appears<br \/>\n\tto it to be just and specifying the person or persons to whom<br \/>\n\tcompensation shall be paid.  This provisions takes the place of the<br \/>\n\tthird paragraph of S.1A of the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 which<br \/>\n\tprovides that in every such action, the Court may give such damages<br \/>\n\tas it may think proportioned to the loss resulting from such death<br \/>\n\tto the parties respectively, for whom and for whose benefit such<br \/>\n\taction shall be brought.  Persons for whose benefit such an<br \/>\n\tapplication can be made and the manner in which the compensation<br \/>\n\tawarded may be distributed amongst the persons for whose benefit the<br \/>\n\tapplication is made are dealt with by S.110-A and S.110-B of the Act<br \/>\n\tand to that extent the provisions of the Act do supersede the<br \/>\n\tprovisions of the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 in so far as motor<br \/>\n\tvehicle accidents are concerned.  These provisions are not merely<br \/>\n\tprocedural provisions.  They substantially affect the rights of the<br \/>\n\tparties.  As the right of action created by the Fatal Accidents Act,<br \/>\n\t1855 was  new in its species, new in its quality, new in its<br \/>\n\tprinciples, in every way new  the right given to the legal<br \/>\n\trepresentatives under the Act to file an application for<br \/>\n\tcompensation for death due to a  motor vehicle accident is equally<br \/>\n\tnew and an enlarged one.  This new right cannot be hedged in by all<br \/>\n\tthe limitation of an action under the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855.<br \/>\n\tNew situations and new dangers require new strategies and new<br \/>\n\tremedies.\n<\/p>\n<p>In<br \/>\n\tparagraph 11, the Apex Court further said :\n<\/p>\n<p> We<br \/>\n\tfeel that the view taken by the Gujarat High Court is in consonance<br \/>\n\twith the principles of justice, equity and good conscience having<br \/>\n\tregard to the conditions of the Indian society. Every legal<br \/>\n\trepresentative who suffers on account of the death of a person due<br \/>\n\tto a motor vehicle accident should have a remedy for realisation of<br \/>\n\tcompensation and that is provided by S.110-A to 110-F of the Act.<br \/>\n\tThese provisions are in consonance with the principles of law of<br \/>\n\ttorts that every injury must have a remedy.  It is for the Motor<br \/>\n\tVehicles Accidents Tribunal to determine the compensation which<br \/>\n\tappears to it to be just as provided in S.110-B of the Act to<br \/>\n\tspecify the person or persons to whom compensation shall be paid.<br \/>\n\tThe determination of the compensation payable and its apportionment<br \/>\n\tas required by S.110B of the Act amongst the legal representatives<br \/>\n\tfor whose benefit an application may be filed under S.110-A of the<br \/>\n\tAct have to be done in accordance with well-known principles of law.<br \/>\n\t We should remember that in an Indian family brothers, sisters and<br \/>\n\tbrothers&#8217; children and sometimes foster children live together and<br \/>\n\tthey are dependent upon the bread-winner of the family and if the<br \/>\n\tbread-winner is killed on account of a motor vehicle accident, there<br \/>\n\tis no justification to deny them compensation relying upon the<br \/>\n\tprovisions of the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 which as we have already<br \/>\n\theld has been substantially modified by the provisions contained in<br \/>\n\tthe Act in relation to cases arising out of motor vehicles<br \/>\n\taccidents.  We express our approval on the decision in <a href=\"\/doc\/640617\/\">Megjibhai<br \/>\n\tKhimji Vira v. Chaturbhai Taljabhai (AIR<\/a> 1977 Guj 195) (supra) and<br \/>\n\thold that the brother of a person who dies in a motor vehicle<br \/>\n\taccident is entitled to maintain a petition under S.110-A of the Act<br \/>\n\tif he is a legal representative of the deceased.\n<\/p>\n<p>5.<br \/>\n\tIn the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, brothers&#8217; son is class II heir.<br \/>\n\tTherefore, the petition is maintainable, claimants being legal<br \/>\n\trepresentatives\/heirs of the deceased within the meaning of Section<br \/>\n\t166\/163-A of the Act.  Deceased was bachelor and left no other<br \/>\n\their\/representative in class I to represent him in his estate,<br \/>\n\texcept the claimants, according to learned counsel for the<br \/>\n\tclaimants.\n<\/p>\n<p>In<br \/>\n\tview of the observations  made by Division Bench of this Court as<br \/>\n\treferred above, the contention raised by learned Advocate Ms. Megha<br \/>\n\tJani cannot be accepted.  Therefore, Claims Tribunal, Godhra has<br \/>\n\trightly examined and rightly decided the matter.  Hence, Claims<br \/>\n\tTribunal has not committed any error which requires interference by<br \/>\n\tthis Court.  The amount of compensation is also properly worked out<br \/>\n\twhich cannot be considered to be on higher side and in my opinion, a<br \/>\n\treasonable, just and proper compensation has been awarded.  No<br \/>\n\tinterference is required by this Court.  Therefore, there is no<br \/>\n\tsubstance in First Appeal.  Accordingly First Appeal is dismissed.<br \/>\n\tToday First Appeal No.254\/2010 is dismissed.  Therefore, no order is<br \/>\n\trequired to be passed in Civil Application.  Accordingly, Civil<br \/>\n\tApplication No.1545\/2009 is disposed of.\n<\/p>\n<p>(H.K.\n<\/p>\n<p>Rathod, J.)<\/p>\n<p>Caroline<\/p>\n<p>\t\t   \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t   Top<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gujarat High Court National vs Pritamsinh on 11 February, 2010 Author: H.K.Rathod,&amp;Nbsp; Gujarat High Court Case Information System Print FA\/254\/2010 12\/ 14 ORDER IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD FIRST APPEAL No. 254 of 2010 With CIVIL APPLICATION No. 1545 of 2009 ========================================================= NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED &#8211; Appellant(s) Versus PRITAMSINH NATWARSINH CHAUHAN [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gujarat-high-court","category-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>National vs Pritamsinh on 11 February, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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