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NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR
MAC No. 705 of 2018
1. Rajesh Nayak S/o Manehswar Nayak, Aged About 31 Years R/o Village Lodhma,
Tahsil Kunkuri, District Jashpur Chhattisgarh
2. Smt. Bhagwati Nayak W/o Rajesh Nayak, Aged About 30 Years R/o Village
Lodhma, Tahsil Kunkuri, District Jashpur Chhattisgarh. …………..(Claimants)
---- Appellants
Versus
1. Dhan Bhusan Toppo S/o Josef Toppo, R/o Village Manjhatoli, Birkera, Raidih,
Post Raidih, District Gumla Jharkhand. ……………..(Owner)
2. Iffco Tokio General Insurance Co. Ltd., Local Branch Officer, Beside Sunday
Market, Nayaganj, Raigarh Chhattisgarh. 492001. …….(Insurer Of Motor Cycle
Bearing No. Jh 01 Bq 7693)
3. Sangeeta Nayak, S/o Late Kishore Nayak, House No. 155, Village Lodham, Tahsil
And District Jashpur Chhattisgarh
4. The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Local Branch Officer, Raigarh
Chhattisgarh. ………….(Insurer Of Motor Cycle No. CG 14 MI 0176)
---- Respondents
For Appellant : Ms. Simran Kaur, Advocate on behalf of Shri
A.K.Prasad, Advocate
For Respondent No.2 : Shri Pravesh Sahu, Advocate on behalf of
Shri P.R.Patankar, Advocate
Hon'ble Shri Justice Sachin Singh Rajput
Order On Board
31/01/2024
1.
This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short
‘M.V.Act’) has been filed against award dated 23/01/2018 passed by the
Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jashpur (CG) in Motor Accident Claim
No.02/2017.
2.
By the impugned award, learned Tribunal has awarded Rs.2,85,000/- in
favour of the claimants as compensation on account of death of their
daughter Nandini Nayak in an unfortunate accident that took place on
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02/02/2016 by rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle (Motor
Cycle) bearing registration No.JH-01-BQ-7693 by which was owned by
respondent No.1/ owner and insured with respondent No.2 / insurance
company. The driver of the offending vehicle also died in the accident.
3.
As per claim application, the deceased Nandini Nayak was aged about 08
years and she would have definitely succeeded in her life and would have
contributed to the livelihood of her parents/claimants. Therefore,
Rs.15,25,000/- was claimed. Respondent No.1 / owner remained ex-parte
before the Tribunal. Respondent No.2/ insurer of the offending vehicle
stated that the offending vehicle was not insured with them and the said
vehicle was being driven in violation of the insurance policy. Respondent
no.3 also resisted the claim application.
4.
Learned Tribunal after framing issues, decided those issues in favour of the
appellants / claimants and awarded compensation as stated above.
5.
Learned counsel for the appellants / claimants submits that the law with
regard to death of a child is no longer res integra in view of the judgment of
Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Kishan Gopal and anr. v. Lala and
ors., (2014) 1 SCC 244 and Kurvan Ansari @ Kurvan Ali and anr. v.
Shyam Kishore Murmu and anr., (2022) 1 SCC 317. She submits that
apart from this, the amount of compensation on other heads is also on the
lower side.
6.
Learned counsel for respondent No.2 supports the award passed by the
learned Tribunal and submits that looking to the facts and circumstances of
the case, just compensation has been awarded.
7.
I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival
submissions and perused the records.
8.
In the light of judgments passed in the case of Kurvan Ansari (supra) and
Kishan Gopal (supra), this Court feels that ends of justice would be served
by awarding Rs.5 lakhs to the appellants / claimants.
9.
Accordingly, the appeal is partly allowed and amount of Rs.5 lakhs is
awarded to the appellants / claimants. After deducting Rs.2,85,000/- as
awarded by learned Tribunal, enhancement comes to Rs.2,15,000/-.
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Respondent No.2/ insurance company shall pay the amount of
Rs.2,15,000/- within a period of 60 days with 6% interest from the date of
claim application. After the amount of compensation is deposited by
respondent No.2/insurance company, learned Tribunal shall pass
appropriate order for apportionment, investment and disbursement.
10.
The appeal thus partly allowed.
Sd/-
(Sachin Singh Rajput )
Judge
Deepti