BEFORE THE MEMBER, MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS TRIBUNAL: CACHAR: SILCHAR: ASSAM Present: Shri B. Debnath, B.Com, LLM, AJS. Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Silchar. JUDGMENT IN MAC CASE NO 112 OF 2011 1. Smti Tombinu Singha 2. Smti Sanjit Singha 3. Smti Ranjita Singa 4. Sri Premjit Singha 5. Priyobrota Singha... CLAIMANTS V E R S U S 1. Ibungobi Singha :Owner of the vehicle 2. Krishna Mohan Singha :Driver of the vehicle 3. Oriental Insurance Co Ltd :Insurer of the vehicle... OPPOSITE PARTIES APEAREANCE: Shri Rajat Ghosh, Ld. Advocate Shri SS Dutta, Ld. Advocate :For the claimant :For the insurer Institution of the case : 04-02-2011 Date of argument : 24-03-2014 Date of Judgment : 07-04-2014 J U D G M E N T 1. Widow and four children of Nanda Mohan Singha brought this claim case for award of compensation under MV Act. To get the compensation brought the following facts: 2. Nanda Mohan Singha (hereinafter referred as deceased ) was Headmaster of Jibangram ME School. He was pillion rider of Motor cycle bearing Registration No. AS-11/E-4449. Krishna Singha was the rider. They were proceeding from Lala to Silchar on 29/11/2010 by the said motorcycle but when reached at Chailtabasti the motorcycle capsized due to rash and negligent riding. In consequence the deceased sustained head injury. He
2 was brought to Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH for short) but died on the following day. Post Mortem examination was done on the dead body and formal FIR was lodged to the O/C Silchar PS. The OC Silchar PS registered Silchar PS case No. 2363/10 under Section 279/304(A) IPC. The police submitted Accident Information Report vide Ext3 and after investigation Charge Sheet submitted vide Ext9. 3. On receiving police paper including Form-54 and Seizure list of motorcycle and MVI report instant case brought against the owner rider and Insurance Company. The owner and rider in their joint WS admitted the accident and death of deceased but their plea is that the accident as occurred without rash and negligent driving. However they stated that the vehicle was under coverage of Insurance Policy with the Oriental Insurance Company Limited for which, if any compensation if awarded the Insurance Company is liable to pay. 4. The insurance Company in the WS denied all the material fact and prayed under Section 170 MV Act to contest in all the material points. Prayer has been allowed because the owner and rider did not participate in the hearing. 5. The claimant examined the widow of the deceased as PW1 and exhibited Accident Information Report, Seizure List, MVI report, FIR, Charge Sheet to establish the fact that accident was occurred due to rash and negligent driving. Not only that but also exhibited Post Mortem examination report, Cause of Death certificate etc to establish the fact that death was caused due to vehicular accident. 6. As the claimant stated that deceased was Headmaster of ME School examined an official witness to prove salary certificate and other service
3 related papers. The said witness is In-Charge Head Master of Jibangram ME School. His name is Bhanu Pratap Koiri. He exhibited salary certificate, extract copy of Bill register etc to establish the Salary and age of the deceased. 7. The contesting OP cross-examined both the PW1 and PW2 but did not examine any defence witness. 8. The claimant s Advocate submitted written argument. I also heard both sides counsel and perused the evidence on record. 9. In this case the fact of travelling by Motorcycle and status of the deceased as pillion rider and fact of death due to accident are remained unrebuttable on the record. The defence side challenged the income of the deceased and also took defence plea that the rider did not possess valid Driving Licence. 10. So far as defence plea regarding invalid Driving Licence is concerned the contesting OP did not bring any material before the Tribunal. For which the particular of Driving Licence mentioned in the Ext3 Accident Information Report is accepted. Now question is as whether accident was occurred due to rash and negligent driving. Though the contesting OP during hearing did not challenge that fact but the claimant exhibited FIR, Charge Sheet and other relevant police papers. As per Charge Sheet vide Ext9 the I/O opined that prima facie made out against the rider of the motorcycle for rash and negligent driving and causing death of the deceased. As such the aforesaid rider has been charge-sheeted under Section 279/304(A) IPC. The FIR, Seizure List and MVI report also supported the fact that the Motorcycle met accident on the relevant date on 29/11/2010.
4 11. Thus the claimant being the legal heirs cum dependant of the deceased are entitled compensation. 12. To assess compensation the guiding principle laid down by Supreme Court in Sarla Verma and others versus Delhi Road Transport Corporation and another, 2009 (2) TAC 677 (SC) to be applied. Therefore age and income of the deceased are required to be determined. 13. In this case the PW2 exhibited Salary certificate vide Ext12. As per the said certificate date of birth of the deceased is 01/10/1957. The contesting OP put suggestion that the Ext12 obtained collusively but no material produced before this Tribunal to justify the suggestion. That is why I have accepted the Ext12. Accordingly it is determined that at the date of accident the deceased was 53 years 01 month and 28 days old. Therefore multiplier is selected from the table given in the case of Sarla Verma (supra) for the age group of 41 55 years as 11. 14. The Ext6 and Ext12 are two salary certificates. As per deposition of Pw2 Ext12 the salary certificate prepared on the basis of Bill Register and BEEO put countersignature. The contesting OP challenged the salary certificate but no material produced before this Tribunal to discard. Anyhow I have also perused the extract copy of Bill Register and opined that Ext12 is the reflection of relevant Bill register. Thus the salary mentioned in the Ext12 is taken into consideration. As per Ext12 last salary of the deceased was Rs.26,902 including HR and MA. As both the HR and MA are not income in real sense the amount mentioned in aforesaid two allowances to be deducted in addition of Professional Tax. 15. Thus total monthly income is calculated Rs.26,902 Rs.2271/- (Rs.1713+350+208)= Rs. 24631/-. Accordingly annual income is Rs.2,95,572/-.
5 16. As per the guiding principle laid down by the Supreme Court in Sarla Verma s case (supra) one-fourth of the said income to be deducted towards the living and personal expenses of the deceased to get the annual loss of dependency. Thus I find Rs.2,95,572 Rs.73893/- = Rs. 2,21,679/-. Therefore compensation on fatal accident is Rs.2,21,679 x 11 = Rs.24,38,469. 17. In addition the claimants are entitled following amount of compensation on conventional heads in view of the guiding principle of Supreme Court in Rajesh and others versus Rajbir Singh and others (2013) 9 SCC 54. Funeral expenses : Rs. 25000 Loss of estate : Rs. 5000 Loss of consortium To the widow : Rs. 100000 Loss of care & guidance for minor children : Rs. 100000 Future prospect (15% of amount of fatal Accident : Rs. 365770 Total : Rs. 5,95,770/- 18. Thus total compensation is Rs. 30,34,239/- (Rs. 24,38,469 + Rs. 5,95,770). 19. The OP No. 3 the Oriental Insurance Company Limited being the insurer of the motorcycle aforesaid is directed to deposit the awarded compensation of Rs. 30,34,239/- (Rupees Thirty Lakhs Thirty Four Thousand Two Hundred Thirty Nine) only within 30 days from today with up-to-date interest at the rate of 9% per annum with effect from the date of filing of the claim application till realization of the full.
6 20. Supply free copy of judgment to the parties immediately. With the above the case is disposed of on contest. Given under my hand and Seal of the court on this the 7 th day of April, 2014. (Shri B. Debnath) Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal Silchar:: Assam Dictated and corrected by me: (Shri B. Debnath) Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal Silchar::Assam Transcribed and typed by me: (Dhruba Jyoti Das) Stenographer Motor Accident Claims Tribunal Silchar::Assam