TMI Blog2006 (3) TMI 739X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... accident took place at Kharjan Pol of Sahab Pathar, Tingrai, a place between Tinsukia and Digboi in the State of Assam wherein two vehicles, namely, Maruti car bearing registration No. UPI 237 and a bus bearing registration No. ASQ 8446, were involved in a head-on collision. Raj Kumar Dugar, the owner of the Maruti car, died in the accident on the spot. Bidya Dhar Dutta, respondent No. 1, is the owner of the bus and Ajay Baruah, respondent No. 2 herein, was driving the offending bus, when it met with an accident. The bus was insured with the Oriental Insurance Company Limited- respondent No.3. The car of the deceased was not insured as he had purchased it hardly a day or two before the accident. The appellant-Bijoy Kumar Dugar and his wife-Smt. Panna Devi Dugar [now dead] were the original claimants before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as 'the MACT'), Tinsukia. They claimed a sum of ₹ 25,00,000/- as compensation from the respondents. The MACT, relying upon the evidence and other material on record, came to the conclusion that the deceased Raj Kumar Dugar and Ajay Baruah, driver-respondent No. 2, both were driving their respective vehicles ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntended that the High Court has erred in accepting the finding of the MACT in apportioning the liability of the deceased and the driver of bus in the ratio of 50:50. It was then contended that the interest at the rate of 10% per annum awarded by the MACT is on the lower side and ought to have been enhanced by the High Court to 18% per annum as claimed by the claimants. The learned counsel appearing for the contesting respondent on the other hand, has sought to support the orders of the High Court. He submitted that this Court, in exercise of power under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, would ordinarily not interfere with the concurrent findings of facts recorded by the MACT and affirmed by the High Court. To appreciate the respective contentions of the learned counsel for the parties, we have gone through the relevant material on record. It is by now well-settled that the compensation should be the pecuniary loss to the dependants by the death of a person concerned. While calculating the compensation, annual dependency of the dependants should be determined in terms of the annual loss, according to them, due to the abrupt termination of life. To determine the quantum ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r amount of ₹ 6,000/- under the head Loss of Estate . The total sum awardable is ₹ 3,53,600/- but since the deceased was held liable for contributory negligence, the liability of the insurer with whom the bus in question was insured is fixed at 50%, i.e. to the extent of ₹ 1,76,800/- with interest at the rate of 10% per annum from the date of the filing of the claim application till the date of payment. The deceased, a young boy of 24 years old, was unmarried and the claimants were his father and mother, the dependency has to be calculated on the basis that within two or three years the deceased would have married and raised family and the monthly allowance he was giving to his parents would have been cut down. Thus, in our view, the MACT has awarded just and reasonable compensation to the claimants. We have gone through the ratio of the above decisions relied upon by the claimants in support of the submission for the enhancement of the amount of compensation. In G.M., Kerala SRTC's case (supra), the claimants have satisfactorily proved on record that the deceased person in that case had a more or less stable job in the newspaper establishment of Malayala ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eased was a teetotaller and he did not smoke or drink. On the basis of the entire evidence, the claimants were held entitled for the enhancement of the amount of compensation. In the present case, as noticed, there is no evidence brought on record by the claimants to show the future prospects of the deceased. This contention, in our view, is not tenable to sustain it. Adverting to the next contention of the claimants, no doubt the High Court has not dealt with the point in issue. However, we have noticed the reasoning and finding of the MACT recorded under Issue No.2. It is the evidence of Rajesh Kumar Gupta-P.W.2 who was travelling in the Maruti car along with the deceased Raj Kumar Dugar on the day of the accident that he also suffered some injuries in the said accident. He stated that while coming from Digboi, the Maruti car being driven by the deceased met with an accident at a place near Kharjan Pol. Before the accident, Raj Kumar Dugar noticed a passenger bus coming from the opposite direction and the movement of the bus was not normal as it was coming in a zigzag manner. The Maruti car being driven by the deceased Raj Kumar Dugar and the offending bus had a head- on co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yer was made by the insurer to allow it to file the written statement. Ultimately, the written statement was filed in the month of October, 1990. The defence of the Insurance Company was that it was liable to pay interest on the amount of compensation from the period starting from 10th January, 1989 to October, 1990 and not prior to that date as the insurer had put in appearance before the MACT only on 10th January, 1989. The High Court accepted the writ petition of the Insurance Company and quashed the Award of the MACT to the extent that the claimants shall be entitled to interest only for a period of two years, i.e. from the date of the appearance of the Insurance Company on 10th January, 1989 to October, 1990 when it filed the written statement. Being aggrieved against the said order of the High Court, the claimants have filed this appeal contending that the writ petition of the Insurance Company against the award of interest on the amount of compensation by the MACT was not maintainable when it had not obtained the right to contest the proceedings on merit under Section 170 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ). As noticed in the earlier par ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
