Karnataka High Court: H.T. Narendra Prasad, J. dismissed the appeal filed by an Insurance Company against the order passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT).
In the instant case, Jyothi and Nagaraj were traveling on a motorcycle and a lorry came in a rash and negligent manner and dashed against the motorcycle. As a result, Jyothi fell on the road and the lorry ran over her and she died while shifting her to the hospital. Hence, the parents of the deceased filed the claim petition before the Tribunal. The Tribunal granted compensation of Rs 6,96,000 with interest at 6 percent per annum. Being aggrieved by the same, the Insurance Company filed the present appeal.
The learned counsel for the petitioner, Lingaraj H S submitted that the Tribunal had erred in taking the multiplier based on the age of the deceased instead of based on the age of the mother. Further, the Tribunal was unjustified in adding 50 percent of the income of the deceased towards loss of future prospects while calculating the “loss of dependency”. Further, the compensation of Rs 25,000 each awarded to the claimants in the category of “loss of love and affection” was on the higher side. Therefore, the counsel for the petitioner prayed for allowing the appeal by reducing the compensation.
The learned counsel for the claimants, Nataraj Ballal relied on the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of National Insurance Co. Ltd v. Pranay Sethi, 2017 SCC OnLine SC 1270, in which it was held that in case the deceased was having a permanent job and was below the age of 40 years, an addition of 50 percent of the established income should be made. Further, as per the said decision, while calculating the “loss of dependency”, the age of the deceased had to be taken into consideration. Hence, the counsel for the claimants submitted that there was no error in the finding of the Tribunal. Therefore, he prayed for dismissal of the appeal.
The Court relied on the decision of Supreme Court in the case of Pranay Sethi, and held that multiplier had to be applied based on the age of the deceased and not based on the age of the mother of the deceased. Moreover, the Court also relied on the case of Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd v. Nanu Ram, 2018 SCC OnLine SC 1546 in which it was held that the claimants were entitled to compensation under the head “loss of love and affection”. Therefore, the Insurance Company has erred in taking the multiplier based on the age of deceased instead of based on the age of the mother and that the Tribunal was unjustified in adding 50 percent of the income of the deceased towards loss of future prospects while calculating the “loss of dependency”. Hence, the appeal could not be accepted and was unsustainable.
The appeal was dismissed accordingly.[Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Rathna, 2019 SCC OnLine Kar 566, decided on 29-05-2019]
