Court feels accident relief not enough, hikes amount sans informing family

Observing that when the opposite party is to be benefited by an order, there is no need to issue a notice to the said party and the affected party need not be present before this court, a division bench comprising Justices N Kirubakaran and Krishnan Ramasamy dismissed the appeal moved by the insurance company against the awarding of Rs 50.85 lakh in the admission stage itself. The bench enhanced the compensation to Rs 69 lakh without issuing notice to the claimants.

S Makesh (32), an engineer, working as a senior lead designer in a private company was killed in a road accident on October 9, 2010. He was hit from behind by a lorry.

While the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal in Poonamallee awarded Rs 50.85 lakh as compensation, the insurance company moved the appeal stating that there was no income deduction from the salary of the deceased and moreover a sum of Rs 3 lakh was awarded towards loss of love and affection and hence sought for reduction of compensation amount.

However, the bench on noting that the tribunal wrongly adopted ‘17’ as multiplier, said: “Since the age of the deceased is 32 years, the right multiplier is ‘16’ and therefore the loss of income itself would be Rs 66.07 lakh.”

The bench in its order reiterated that “benefit could be given even exparte in the absence of the opposite party in the proceedings, especially, in claims regarding the MV Act, 1988.”