High Court of KeralaSingle Judge2020-09-18MACA allowed; appeal allowed and award modified...

Vidya Venugopal and others v. The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.

Case / Petition Number:MACA.No.1774/2016(D)

Case Details & Bench

Court: High Court of Kerala
Hon'ble Judges: K. Vinod Chandran
Judgment Date: 2020-09-18
Court Decision / Holding: Appeal allowed; MACT award enhanced and modified as per the detailed heads in the judgment. The minor’s share to be deposited until majority; payment to insured with NEFT/RTGS within three months; no order as to costs.
Final Disposition: MACA allowed; appeal allowed and award modified with enhanced compensation and specified payment terms.

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

Vidya Venugopal
Sanvi (minor) represented by Vidya Venugopal
Nirmala W/o Parameswaran Nair

Respondents

The New India Assurance Co. Ltd

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

• Smt. K.V. Rashmi

Counsels for Respondents

• Sri. John Joseph Vettikad

Case Synopsis & Summary

This is a Motor Accident Claims Appeal from Kerala High Court (MACA No.1774/2016) challenging the MACT Kozhikode award on the death of Anil in a two-wheeler accident on 20.06.2014. The claimants—widow Vidya Venugopal, a minor Sanvi (represented by Vidya Venugopal), and the mother Nirmala—seek enhancement of compensation for the death. The Tribunal had pegged the deceased’s notional income at Rs. 5,000 per month due to lack of evidence of formal employment; the Tribunal awarded various heads but did not allow by-stander expenses, and fixed funeral costs, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium. The Kerala High Court relies on Supreme Court precedents, notably Ramachandrappa and Pranay Sethi, to hold that notional income can be incrementally increased for self-employed or unorganised sector workers, reflecting cost-of-living increases. The court determines the deceased’s notional monthly income at Rs. 12,000 after applying incremental uplift and applies updated figures to compensation heads. Hospitalisation, transport, by-stander expenses, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of estate, and dependency are recalculated with a multiplier of 16, resulting in a total enhanced award of Rs. 23,48,065, with minor’s share to be deposited in fixed deposit until majority. The appeal is allowed; modifications are directed, with payment within three months and 9% interest, and no costs."

Legal Doctrines & Maxims

Incremental income enhancement for self-employed/unorganised sector; notional income can be raised (Ramachandrappa, Pranay Sethi).
Use of Magma/2018 decision for loss of consortium amounts.

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

Applicants contended that Anil was a businessman with a credible monthly income around Rs. 25,000, but the Tribunal did not prove employment; relying on Ramachandrappa and Pranay Sethi, notional income should be uplifted to Rs. 12,000 with annual increments, and additional heads (by-stander, pain and suffering, loss of consortium) should be fairly enhanced; loss of love and affection should not be disallowed. The minor’s and family’s dependency should be improved to reflect future prospects.

Contentions of Respondents

Respondents contended that the Tribunal’s approach and the fixed heads were reasonable and supported by evidence; no justification to drastically upscale the income or award beyond the Tribunal’s calculations; liability and calculation of compensation should align with established precedents.

Cited Precedents (3)

Case Name	Citation	Treatment	Explanation
Ramachandrappa v. Manager, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited	(2011) 13 SCC 236	Positive	Cited to justify notional income and incremental enhancement for self-employed/unorganised sector; supports fixing higher prevailing income and annual increments.
National Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Pranay Sethi	(2017) 16 SCC 680	Positive	Recognises incremental enhancement for self-employed/unorganised sector; used to justify Rs.12,000 monthly notional income and future prospects.
Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram and others	(2018) 11 SCALE 247 = 2018(4) RCR (Civil)333	Positive	Used to justify enhanced loss of consortium (Rs. 1,20,000 for family members) per 2018 decision.

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Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

## **IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM** ## **PRESENT** ## **THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K.VINOD CHANDRAN** **FRIDAY, THE 18TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2020 / 27TH BHADRA, 1942** ## **MACA.No.1774 OF 2016(D)** **AGAINST THE AWARD IN OPMV 643/2015 DATED 22-01-2016 OF MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS TRIBUNAL ,KOZHIKODE** ## **APPELLANTS/CLAIMANTS:** **1 VIDYA VENUGOPAL AGED 27 YEARS, W/O LATE ANIL.** **2 SANVI (MINOR) AGED 2 DOB 17-10-2013, REPRESENTED BY MOTHER VIDYA VENUGOPAL BOTH RESIDING AT GOKULAM, AREEKKAD, CHERUVANNUR, KOZHIKODE,** **3 NIRMALA W/O PARAMESWARAN NAIR, AGED 63 YEARS, RESIDING AT MANIKANDA NILAYAM, PUTHUKKODE, CHERUKAVU, MALAPPURAM.** **BY ADV. SMT.K.V.RASHMI** ## **RESPONDENT/3RD RESPONDENT:** **THE NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO.LTD** **POOTHERY BUILDING, FEROKE, KOZHIKODE, REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGER, PIN 673 001.** **R1 BY ADV. SRI.JOHN JOSEPH VETTIKAD** **THIS MOTOR ACCIDENT CLAIMS APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 18.09.2020, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:** MACA No.1774/2016 2 ## **K. VINOD CHANDRAN, J. =====================** **MACA No.1774 of 2016 ======================== Dated this the 18th day of September, 2020** ## **JUDGMENT** The claimants have filed an application before the Tribunal for compensation on account of the death of one Anil by reason of a motor vehicle accident on 20.6.2014. Anil was riding a bike when it was hit by another bike. The other bike was found to be the offending vehicle. Anil was hospitalized and after ten days succumbed to his injuries. The wife, mother and a minor child are the claimants. The claimants have filed an appeal for enhancement of the compensation. 2. The claimants before the Tribunal asserted that Anil was a business man having a monthly income of Rs.25,000/-. There is no evidence produced to prove the employment or the MACA No.1774/2016 3 income. The Tribunal adopted Rs.5,000/-. 3. A coolie was fixed with a notional income of Rs.4,500/- per month in the year 2004, in _**Ramachandrappa v. Manager, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited**_ **[** _**(2011) 13**_ _**SCC 236**_ **]** . The Hon'ble Supreme Court has also recognised the principle that there would be incremental enhancement in the case of even self-employed individuals in the un-organised sector **(** _**National Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Pranay**_ _**Sethi (2017)16 SCC 680**_ **)** . With respect to an unspecified job considering the increase in cost of living and economic advancements over the years, it can be safely assumed that even a coolie would be eligible for incremental addition of at least Rs.500/- in every subsequent year. In such circumstances, even a coolie would have been entitled to a monthly income of Rs. 9,500/-. Hence, a business man MACA No.1774/2016 4 definitely would have got about Rs.12,000/- per month. The claimants asserted that the deceased was a business man and no serious dispute was raised. This Court is of the opinion that the notional monthly income can be fixed at Rs.12,000/-. 4. The deceased was hospitalized for ten days. The Tribunal has granted Rs.8,000/- as expenses for hospitalisation as per Ext.A2. An amount of Rs.5,000/- has been granted for transportation also. There is nothing granted for by-stander expenses, which shall be granted at Rs.300/- per day. Considering the fact that the deceased has suffered ten days hospitalisation after the accident with grievous injuries, pain and suffering shall be compensated with an amount of Rs.30,000/-. The funeral expenses will have to be reduced to Rs.15,000/-. Loss of consortium has been granted MACA No.1774/2016 5 at Rs.1 lakh. The wife is entitled to compensation for loss of spousal consortium, the mother to loss of filial consortium and the minor child to loss of parental consortium at the rate of Rs.40,000/- each as per _**2018 (11) SCALE 247 = 2018(4) RCR (Civil)333 [Magma General Insurance Co.Ltd. v. Nanu Ram and others].**_ Hence, that can be enhanced to Rs. 1,20,000/-. There is no ground under loss of love and affection, which will stand deleted. Loss of estate will be reduced by 10,000/-. As far as the loss of dependency, 1/3rd has been reduced for personal affairs and 40% has to be added for future prospects. The multiplier is correctly taken at 16. Accordingly, the following Modifications are made: MACA No.1774/2016 6 |**Sl** **.** **No** **.**||**Head of Claim**|**Amount** **awarded by** **the** **Tribunal** **`**|**Total amount** **after** **enhancement in** **appeal** **`**| |---|---|---|---|---| |**1**||**Loss of earnings**|**1,665/-**|**1,665/-**| |**2**||**Transport to hospital**|**5,000/-**|**5,000/-**| |**3**||**Hospitalisation for 10** **days as per A2**|**8,000/-**|**8,000/-**| |**4**||**Funeral expenses**|**25,000/-**|**15,000/-**| |**5**||**Loss of consortium**|**1,00,000/-**|**1,20,000/-**| |**6**||**Loss of love and** **affection**|**2,25,000/-**|**deleted**| |**7**||**Loss of estate**|**25,000/-**|**15,000**| |**8**||**Loss of dependency**|**6,40,000/-**|**21,50,400/-** **(12000x2/3x** **140%x12x16)**| |**9**||**By-stander expenses**|**-**|**3000/-** **(300x10)**| |**10**||**Pain and sufferings**|**-**|**30,000/-**| |||**Total**|**10,29,665/-**|**23,48,065/-**| MACA would stand allowed. Considering the fact that about four years have elapsed from the date of the award, there is no requirement to deposit any amounts in fixed deposit as directed by the Tribunal in the case of the mother and MACA No.1774/2016 7 wife of the deceased. However the share of the minor child will be deposited in fixed deposit till she attain majority. The mother of the child if necessary is permitted to move an application for withdrawal of the amounts so deposited in the minor's name, before the Tribunal, on any extenuating circumstance pointed out before the Tribunal; which shall be permitted only on satisfaction of the Tribunal. The payment as per the award and the modification made herein shall be made within three months with interest as directed by the Tribunal @9 %, from the date of application, after deducting the amounts already paid or deposited. The claimants shall produce a copy of a cancelled cheque of the Bank account in a Nationalized Bank in any one of their names, with authorization from others or in their joint/separate names and with copy of AADHAAR or MACA No.1774/2016 8 acceptable identification, before the Tribunal within one month, with copy to the Insurance Company. The Insurance Company shall credit the amounts through NEFT/RTGS mode to the said account/accounts, within three months thereafter failing which, the Tribunal shall proceed with the recovery in accordance with law. The transfer/deposit of the award amount shall be made by the Insurance Company after first satisfying the liability to Court Fee payable by reason of the amounts awarded exceeding that claimed in the application; deducting the same from the award. No order as to costs. **Sd/K.VINOD CHANDRAN JUDGE Sn**