| HC upholds award passed by MACT | | Accident case with cost Rs 10,000/- | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 15 (JNF): In an appeal filed by United India Insurance Company Ltd against the awarded passed by MACT to the tune of Rs 6, 24, 000 along with interest 7.5% PA which include Rs 15,000 for loss of consortium and the same amount for the funeral expenses. The appellant vehemently questioning allowance of Rs.15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand) for Loss of Consortium and Rs.15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand) for Funeral Expenses to the claimants urging that in view of what was contained in Second Schedule issued under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, only Rs.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) for Loss of Consortium and Rs.2,000/- (Rupees Two Thousand) for Funeral Expenses could permissibly be awarded to the claimants and the Tribunal had, therefore, erred in awarding excess amount of compensation to the claimants.
In a people's friendly judgment, Justice JP Singh observed that even if one were to keep the Second Schedule in mind as a guide while assessing just compensation under various heads including Loss of Consortium and Funeral Expenses, the increase in cost of living that the Country has witnessed for the last eighteen years after coming into force of Section 163-A of the Act, cannot be lost sight of, when despite there being provision in Section 163-A of the Act providing for amendment in the Schedule on the basis of the cost of living, the Schedule has not been amended. Justice JP Singh further observed that In the beginning of the marriage, the two individuals meet only at peripheral level but when the relationship grows intimate and intense, they come closer, And with their coming closer, their inner centers (not physical) proceed to meet each other. With these observations High Court upheld the award passed by the MACT with cost Rs 10,000/-. |
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