Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:81726 Court No. - 48 Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 759 of 2004 Appellant :- Smt. Sunita Tiwari And Others Respondent :- Arun Kumar Gupta And Others Counsel for Appellant :- Saurabh Srivastava,Chandra Bhan Gupta,H.C. Srivastava,Ram Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Pankaj Rai, ,Mohammed Iftekhar Hon'ble Vipin Chandra Dixit,J. List has been revised. Heard Sri Chandra Bhan Gupta, learned counsel for the appellants and Sri Pankaj Rai, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Insurance Company- respondent no.3. No one is present on behalf of respondent nos. 1 and 2, who are owner and driver of the offending vehicle. This first appeal from order has been filed under Section 173 of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 on behalf of the claimants-appellants for enhancement of compensation against the judgment and award dated 05.12.2003 passed by Special Judge (SC & ST Act)/Addl. District Judge/Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Kanpur Nagar in M.A.C.P. No. 425 of 1999 (Smt. Sunita Tiwari and others Vs. Arun Kumar Gupta alias Arun Prakash Gupta and others), by which compensation of Rs.1,12,500/- along-with 7% interest has been awarded to the claimants-appellants on account of death of Awadhesh Tiwari who died in a road accident occurred on 22.01.1999. It is submitted by learned counsel for the appellant that the Claim Tribunal has erred in awarding a very meager amount of compensation in favour of claimants-appellants. The claimants-appellants have fully proved the income of the deceased by producing cogent evidence but nothing has been awarded by the Claims Tribunal for loss of future income. The Claims Tribunal has awarded Rs. 50,000/- under no fault liability and Rs. 20,000/- for loss of consortium to the claimant no. 1, who is the widow of the deceased and Rs. 20,000/- to the children and Rs. 20,000/- to the mother of the deceased for love and affection. Rs. 2,000/- was awarded for funeral expenses. The Claims Tribunal while deciding issue nos. 1 and 2 has recorded the finding that the accident was occurred on account of rash and negligent driving of truck driver, but nothing has been awarded for loss of future income and only Rs. 50,000/- was awarded under the no fault liability. It is further submitted that claimants-appellants had filed an application under Order 41 Rule 27 C.P.C. for additional evidence and income tax return of the deceased for the year 1996, 1997 and 1998 were filed. The application was allowed vide order dated 11.01.2024. From the bare perusal of income tax returns of year 1996, 1997 and 1998 filed by the claimants- appellants as additional evidence discloses annual income of the deceased as Rs. 40,000/- in the year 1998. No other ground has been pressed by learned counsel for the appellants. On the other hand, learned counsel for Insurance Company submits that claimants-appellants have failed to prove the income of the deceased by producing cogent evidence and the Claims Tribunal has rightly assessed the compensation and just compensation was awarded to the claimants-appellants. Considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. The Claims Tribunal while deciding issue nos. 1 and 2 has recorded the finding that the accident was occurred on account of rash and negligent driving of truck driver of insured truck and there was no negligence on the part of the deceased. The finding of the Claims Tribunal has not been challenged by the insurance company and its become final. The Claims Tribunal has committed gross illegality in not awarding any amount for loss of future income and only Rs. 50,000/- was awarded under no fault liability. The Claims Tribunal has also erred in not calculating the compensation as per the provisions of Motor Vehicle Act. As per the income tax return, annual income of the deceased is accepted as Rs. 40,000/-per annum. As per claim petition the date of birth of deceased was 17.11.1958 and the accident was occurred on 22.01.1999, the age of the deceased was 40 years 2 months and 3 days at the time of accident. The claimants-appellants are also entitled for 25% future prospects and Rs. 70,000/- for non pecuniary damages. As per claim petition there are five dependents on the income of the deceased and as such deduction would be 1/4th in view of the law laid down by Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma vs. Delhi Road Transport Corporation reported in 2009(2) TAC 677 (S.C.). In view of above, the compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal is reassessed as below:- 1) Annual income = Rs. 40,000/- 3) Future prospects (25%) = Rs.10,000/- 4) Total annual income = Rs.40,000/- + Rs.10,000/- =Rs.50,000/- 5) Deduction towards personal expenses(1/4th) = Rs.50,000/- - Rs.12,500/- =Rs.37,500/- 6) Multiplier applicable (14) =Rs.37,500/- x 14 = Rs.5,25,000/- 7) Non-pecuniary damages =Rs.70,000/- Total = Rs.5,25,000/- + Rs.70,000/- = Rs.5,95,000/- In view of aforesaid discussion, the appeal filed by claimants is hereby partly allowed and award of the Claims Tribunal is modified and compensation is enhanced from Rs.1,12,500/- to Rs.5,95,000/-. The claimants-appellants are also entitled for 5% interest on the enhanced amount from the date of award of Claims Tribunal i.e. 05.12.2003. The respondent-insurance company Limited is directed to deposit enhanced amount along with interest, within two months from today before the concerned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. The claimants are entitled to withdraw the entire deposited amount without furnishing any surety. No order as to costs. Order Date :- 15.5.2025 PS Digitally signed by :- POOJA SHARMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad