Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has increased the compensation amount in 15 years old accident by five fold, by placing reliance upon Supreme Court decision in Shishu Pal and others Vs. Surjeet case.In the said case, the top court had specified that a deceased homemaker”s notional income has to be assessed at Rs 30,000 per month,Thus ,the family members of deceased Pushpa alias Puttathayamma will receive Rs 59.69 lakh compensation along with 9% interest,as against Rs 11.8 lakh compensation with 9% interest awarded to by a tribunal in Bengaluru.The accident had occurred on October 23,2011 when Puttathayamma was riding pillion on a motorcycle ridden by her husband Mayanna Gowda. The motorcycle belonged to one Ramachandra and Mayanna Gowda had borrowed the same to attend a funeral. When the couple reached Kenpanahalli gate, Bidadi , due to rash negligent driving,the rider lost control of the vehicle and Puttathayamma fell down and sustained serious head injuries.Even though she took treatment as inpatient for 45 days at various hospitals, she succumbed to the injuries on June 13,2012.The family members then moved the tribunal for suitable compensation , claiming that the deceased was a flower vendor and was earning Rs 8,000 per month.However,the tribunal awarded Rs 11.8 lakh compensation along with 9% interest , predominantly compensating the Rs 7.36 lakh medical expenses.Not being satisfied,the family members appealed against the tribunal “s order passed on July 14,2016.After perusing the materials on record and also the judgement passed by the Supreme court in Shishu Pal case, a division bench comprising Justices Jayant Banerji and Tara Vitasta Ganju noted that though no evidence is placed regarding flower vending business, nevertheless,the deceased Puttathayamma is entitled to be treated as a homemaker.The Supreme Court in the Shishu Pal’s case, after examining the evidence, has held that in a motor accident case, when the court is concerned with a case involving the death of a home-maker, in order to overcome theinherent disadvantage of calculating the conservative notional income, the home-maker’s contribution towards smooth functioning of the household, loss of maternal support for the children, and loss of spousal support should be calculated at Rs.30,00o- p.m, under the head of Loss of Domestic Care, the division bench noted in their order passed on August 5 .The division bench held that the legal representative of the deceased are entitled to receive Rs 50.4 lakhs under “ loss of dependency” and pointed out that the Tribunal did not award compensation under the head of ‘future prospects.The amounts awarded by the tribunal under medical expenses ( Rs 7.36 lakh) expenses on conveyance and attendant charges( Rs 50,000) were left untouched.
