(S. Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari, JJ.)
National Insurance Co. Ltd. _________________________ Appellant;
v.
Shyam Sunder Chawla and Another ________________ Respondent(s).
Civil Appeal No(s). 4498-4499 of 2021 (Arising out of SLP(C) Nos. 10632-10633 of 2020), decided on July 29, 2021
The Order of the court was delivered by
Order
1. Leave granted.
2. These appeals have been filed by the National Insurance Co. Ltd. against the Order of the High Court of Delhi in MAC. APP. No. 400/2017 and also Order dated 29.01.2020 in Review Petition No. 33/2020 in MAC. APP. No. 400/2017.
3. The case in a nutshell is that the Respondent No. 1 herein filed a claim petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Shahdara, Karkardooma, Delhi, (for short, ‘The Tribunal’), seeking a total compensation of Rs. 95,00,000/- (Rupees Ninety Five Lakhs) with interest thereon at the rate of 18% per annum from the date of the claim petition till the payment, on account of the injuries sustained by him in an accident which had occurred on 01.11.2012. The Appellant has opposed the claim petition. The Tribunal on appreciation of materials on record has passed an Award dated 11.01.2017 granting compensation of a sum of Rs. 66,95,442/- (Rupees sixty six lakhs ninety five thousand four hundred forty two) as under:
| S. No. | Particulars | Amount (In Rs.) |
| 1. | Compensation towards pain and suffering. | 1,00,000 |
| 2. | Compensation towards medical bills. | 19,24,522 |
| 3. | Compensation on account expenses incurred on Physiotherapy. | 2,38,600 |
| 4. | Loss of earning capacity due to disability. | 28,12,320 |
| 5. | Loss of earning for a period of 24 months. | 12,96,000 |
| 6. | Compensation on account of attendant charges for 24 months @ Rs. 3500/- pm. | 84000 |
| 7. | Special diet and conveyance. | 40,000 |
| 8. | Compensation towards loss of amenities and enjoyment. | 1,00,000 |
| 9. | Compensation towards disfigurement | 1,00,000 |
|
| Total | 66,95,442 |
4. The Tribunal has directed payment of the aforesaid sum of Rs. 66,95,442/- with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of claim petition till the date of its realization.
5. The Appellant-Insurance Company challenged the aforesaid Award by filing an appeal before the High Court of Delhi. The High Court passed an Order dated 21.11.2019 confirming the above Award. In addition to that, the High Court has also directed the Appellant to pay a sum of Rs. 5,46,845/- towards motorised wheelchair as the Respondent No. 1 has been rendered to paraplegic and would be unable to move without assistance and is also unable to perform his daily activities. The High Court has further held that since the Respondent No. 1 cannot recover from quadriparesis, he would require somebody trained enough to assist him round the clock. It was further observed by the High Court that it would be open to the Insurance Company to provide the services of a trained personnel for his assistance or to pay him the minimum wages of a semi-skilled person so that he could himself employ an assistant. The High Court has calculated the minimum wages of a semi-skilled person in Delhi as Rs. 8,008/- p.m. during the relevant point of time and accordingly awarded a compensation of Rs. 16,61,328/- for the years 2013 to 2018. Provision was also made by the High Court for payment of such compensation for at least next five years, which comes to Rs. 9,55,200/-. In this connection, the observation of the High Court is as under:
“15. Since the injured is alive, therefore, the payment for provision of such support shall be provided, at least, for the next five years. Therefore, the said monies shall be deposited on this account before the learned Tribunal which shall be deducted on the basis of a surviving certificate shown to the learned Tribunal.
16. As the appellant is now 71 years old, a multiplier of 5 shall be applied for computing ‘future attendant charges’. Accordingly, the amount payable towards the same shall be as under:
Rs. 15,920/- (minimum wages w.e.f. 01.10.2019) × 12 (months) × 5 (multiplier) = Rs. 9,55,200/-.
17. If there is any unutilized amount, the same shall be returned to the appellant. If the injured outlives the aforesaid amount, the insurer shall pay the prevailing minimum wages for a semi-skilled person for the remainder of his life.
18. Excess amount, as may be, shall be deposited before the learned Tribunal within three weeks from the date of receipt of copy of this order for it to be released to the beneficiary(ies) of the Award in terms of the scheme of disbursement specified therein.”
6. A review petition was filed by the Appellant-Insurance Company before the High Court wherein it was contended that a sum of Rs. 12,96,000/- towards ‘loss of earnings’ has already been paid to the Respondent No. 1. Therefore, the High Court has directed the deduction of the aforesaid amount from the total compensation payable to the claimant.
7. As noticed above, the claim petition was for total sum of Rs. 95,00,000/-. Instead of making the minute calculation undertaken by the High Court, it is just and proper to award a sum of Rs. 95,00,000/- as total compensation. There is no question of deduction of any amount out of this total amount of compensation of Rs. 95,00,000/-. Therefore, we award compensation of a total sum of Rs. 95,00,000/- without having any deduction in substitution of the amount awarded by the courts below. The said amount of Rs. 95,00,000/- will carry interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of deposit.
8. We make it clear that if the Appellant-Insurance Company has already deposited any amount either before the Tribunal or the High Court, it is permitted to deduct the said amount from the aforesaid amount and to deposit the balance of the amount within six weeks from today before the Tribunal with interest thereon at the rate of 9% per annum on the unpaid amount from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of deposit.
9. The appeals are disposed of accordingly. The parties to bear their respective costs.
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 10632-10633/2020
The National Insurance Co. Ltd ______________________ Petitioner
v.
Shyam Sunder Chawla & Anr _____________________ Respondent(s)
Date: 29-07-2021 These petitions were called on for hearing today.
(Before S. Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari, JJ.)
For Petitioner(s) Mr. Ekansh Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Parmanand Gaur, AOR
For Respondent(s) Mr. Ranji Thomas, Sr. Adv.
Mr. V.N. Raghupathy, AOR
Mr. Abinash Kumar Mishra, AOR
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
ORDER
10. The appeals are disposed of in terms of the signed order.
11. Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.
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