National Insurance Company Limited, Represented By Its Branch Manager v. Mahadevan And Others

S. MANIKUMAR, J.

The Insurance Company, who suffered a decree for compensation of Rs. 3,65,000/- with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of claim, has preferred this appeal.

2. Brief facts leading to the appeal are as follows:

On 15.7.2003 about 4.30 p.m., when the deceased Murugeswari and Selvarani were standing in the bus stop on Dindigul-Trichy main road, a lorry owned by the fourth respondent and insured with the appellant-Insurance Company came in a rash and negligent manner, dashed against them and both of them died on the spot. Two separate claim petitions were filed by the legal representatives of the deceased. As the claim petitions arose out of the same accident, both the petitions were taken up together, common evidence was let in and documents marked. As far as the claimants in the present appeal are concerned, the Tribunal awarded Rs. 3,65,000/- with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of claim.

3. Heard Mr. Srinivasa Raghavan, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. Ajmal Khan, learned counsel for the respondents.

4. Mr. Srinivasa Raghavan, learned counsel for the appellant submitted that in the absence of proof of avocation, the Tribunal ought to have considered that the deceased was only a house wife and should have fixed the notional income of Rs. 15,000/- for the purpose of computing dependancy compensation. He further submitted that in the absence of any proof of income, the Tribunal has to take note of multifarious services rendered by the house wife and ought to have followed the dictim laid down by the Honble Supreme Court In Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar AIR 2001 SC 3218 [LQ/SC/2001/1757] : (2001) 8 SCC 197 [LQ/SC/2001/1757] : 2001-II-LLJ-1559 : 2001 ACJ 1735. [LQ/SC/2001/1757] He further submitted that the application of multiplier 17 for arriving at the dependancy compensation is excessive.

5. On the other hand, Mr. Ajmal Khan, learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the deceased was a tailor at the time of accident and was contributing Rs. 3,000/- per month. He further submitted that the first respondent, husband of the deceased and his minor children have lost the services rendered by the deceased and the first respondent has to engage another person for doing domestic work. The contribution from tailoring work was supplementary to the family, which is now required from other source and therefore, the said factor has to be considered for awarding compensation. He further submitted that the compensation of Rs. 20,000/-awarded for loss of love and affection is inadequate and the Tribunal has failed to award adequate compensation for transportation expenses. He submitted that the Tribunal ought to have awarded reasonable compensation to the first respondent, who has lost his wife at the age of 33 years.

6. Before dealing with the facts and the decisions of Indian Courts on the determination of quantum of compensation, guidance is taken from the judgment of the Supreme Court, which has extracted a portion of the Queens Bench decision of England, as to what would be the basis for qualifying for compensation for loss of services rendered by house wives. In Regan v. Williamson 1977 ACJ 331 (QBD, England), it was noted that the present law is that dependents are to be compensated only for the value of the services lost to them by the death of a wife and mother. A wifes companionship is to be ignored, likewise the grief and misery caused by her departure and, so too, a mothers love, guidance and influence in bringing up children. Reference was made to causes in which there was strict disregard to those features of the life of a woman beyond her so-called services, to keep house, cook food, buy clothes, wash them, etc. Though the learned Judge found himself bound by the law, yet he expressed the view that the work services has been too narrowly construed. The observations of the Learned Judge is as follows:

It should, at least, include an acknowledgment that a wife and mother does not work to set hours and, still less, to rule. She is in constant attendance, save for those hours when she is, if that is the fact, at work. During some of those hours she may well give the children instruction on essential matters to do with their upbringing and, possibly, with such things as their homework. This sort of attention seems to be as much of a service, and probably more valuable to them, than the other kinds of service conventionally so regarded.

7. In Metmet v. Perry ,1978 ACJ 112 (QBD, England), the pecuniary value of a wifes services were assessed and granted under three heads:

(a) Loss to the family of the wifes housekeeping services.

(b) Loss suffered by the children of the personal attention of their mother, apart from housekeeping services rendered by her.

(c) Loss of the wifes personal care and attention, which the husband had suffered, in addition to the loss of her housekeeping services.

Some of the decisions dealing with the estimation of the services rendered by the house wives are briefly dealt with.

8. The Andhra Pradesh High Court in A. Rajam v. M. Manikya Reddy 1989 ACJ 542 (AP), held, inter alia, as follows:

The loss to the husband and children consequent upon the death of the housewife or mother has to be computed by estimating the loss of services to the family, if there was reasonable prospect of such services being rendered freely in the future, but for the death. It must be remembered that any substitute to be so employed is not likely to be as economical as the housewife. Apart from the value of obtaining substituted services, the expense of giving accommodation or food to the substitute must also be computed. From this total must be deducted the expense the family would have otherwise been spending for the deceased housewife.

While estimating the services of the housewife, a narrow meaning should not be given to the meaning of the word services but it should be construed broadly and one has to take into account the loss of personal care and attention by the deceased to her children, as a mother and to her husband, as a wife. The award is not diminished merely because some close relation like a grandmother is prepared to render voluntary services.

9. The Apex Court in Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar (supra), has laid down certain principles for assessment of services rendered by the deceased-house wives, who were not earning any income. In that case, a devastating fire engulfed the VIP pandal, causing the death of number of persons including children and women. Former Chief Justice of India, Honble Mr. Justice Y.V. CHANDRACHUD looked into the matter and formulated certain principles for assessment of compensation to the legal representatives of the deceased as well as compensation payable to the injured person. On the basis of the report submitted by the Honble Judge, the Apex Court awarded compensation to the victims, who had lost their kith and kin and to those who sustained bodily injuries. The Supreme Court was pleased to award reasonable compensation to the Legal Representatives of the deceased. While dealing with the compensation payable to the legal representatives of the wives, who died in the accident, in paragraph 10 of the judgment, the Supreme Court held that at p. 1566 of LLJ:

But even in the absence of such datas and taking into consideration the multifarious services rendered by the housewifes for managing the entire family, even on a modest estimation, should be Rs. 3,000/- per month and Rs. 36,000/- per annum. This would apply to all those housewives between the age group of 34 and 59 and as such who were active in life. The compensation awarded, therefore, should be re-calculated, taking the value of the services rendered per annum to be Rs. 36,000/- and thereafter applying the multiplier, as has been applied already and so far as the conventional amount is concerned, the same should be Rs. 50,000 instead of Rs. 25,000 given under the report. So far as the elderly ladies are concerned in the age group of 62 to 72, the value of the services rendered has been taken at Rs. 10,000/- per annum and the multiplier applied is eight.

10. In a decision in Bontu Venkata Rao v. Kalla Venkataramana 2005 ACJ 77 [LQ/TelHC/2002/1330] , the Andhra Pradesh High Court considered the value of domestic services of the deceased in awarding compensation to the legal representatives. In Paragraph 7 of the judgment the Court held as follows:

the services have been rendered by the deceased to the family shall have to be quantified. It is in the evidence that the workplace where the deceased used to work has been closed for the last eight months preceding the date of accident and the death of the deceased. If the claimant was expected to have engaged a domestic servant for rendering services he would have definitely paid wages to the servant at the rate of Rs. 30 per day. The deceased in this case died at an age of 30 years. Her assistance to the family would be only for a particular period beyond which it cannot be expected of. But her assistance to the husband would be continued as long as both of them are alive. In that view of the matter it is a loss to claimant throughout his life. He having been aged 35 years at the appropriate time would have received the assistance of the deceased for another period of 35 years having regard to the longevity that has been fixed in this country on an average basis. As years pass on it would be reduced at a latter part of the life it is nothing but a mere companionship than assistance. In that view of the matter the compensation can be granted in a lumpsum for the loss of services to be rendered by the deceased to the family and services towards the domestic chores at Rs. 25,000/-.

11. In Amar Singh Thukral v. Sandeep Chhatwal 2005 ACJ 1187 [LQ/DelHC/2004/647] , the Delhi High Court after considering the principles laid down in Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar (supra), held that,

The services rendered by a housewife to her household should be given a broad interpretation and an expansive meaning.

The Court further held that,

Since there is no scientific method of assessing the contribution of a housewife to her household, in cases such as the present, resort should be had to the wages of a skilled worker as per the minimum rates of wages in Delhi. Although this may sound uncharitable, if not demeaning to the housewife, there is hardly any other option available in the absence of any statutory guidelines.

In the above reported case, the deceased-housewife was aged about 36 years old.

12. The Karnataka High Court in H. V. Rangaraju v. Muqbul Pasha (2004) III ACC 802, considered the loss of services of the deceased, who aged about 28 years and quantified the compensation of Rs. 1,50,000/- on the basis of domestic work for number of years.

13. In Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Shamsher Singh (2004) 1 ACC 209, the Jammu and Kashmir, following the decision in Lata Wadhwa, considered the services rendered by the deceased house-wife, who was aged about 24 years at the time of accident and enhanced the compensation. In Paragraph 6 of the said judgment, the Court held that,

In KEMP AND KEMP ON QUANTUM OF DAMAGES, Vol. 1, various heads of pecuniary loss for the husband on the death of his wife have been listed out. Included there is loss of the wifes contribution to the household from her earnings, the additional expenses incurred or likely to be incurred by having the household run by a house-keeper or servant, instead of the wife, the expenses by buying clothes for the children instead of having them made by the wife, and similarly having his own clothes mended or stitched elsewhere than by his wife, and the loss of that element of security provided to the husband where his employment was insecure or his health was bad and where the wife could go out and work for a living.

14. In a decision in Captain Singh v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. 2005 ACJ 910 [LQ/DelHC/2003/1253] , the Delhi High Court following the decision in Lata Wadhwa and Others v. State of Bihar (supra), evaluated the multifarious services of the deceased as housewife on the date of accident and determined the annual income of the deceased.

15. In a decision in New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Vishwa Bandhu (supra(, the deceased was aged about 28 years at the time of accident. The Punjab & Haryana High Court determined the value of services of the deceased housewife as Rs. 1,000/- per month.

16. In a decision in T. C. Batiya v. Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. 2000 ACJ 327 [LQ/HimHC/1998/183] , the

Himachal Pradesh High Court considered the loss of services to the family and awarded compensation of Rs. 1,00,000/-under that head. In the above said case, the deceased was aged about 50 years at the time of accident.

17. In United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Banshidhar Gupta (2003) I ACC 572, the Allahabad High Court has considered the annual loss to the family due to the death of housewife, aged about 29 years and fixed Rs. 12,000/- per annum under that head.

18. It is difficult to measure the loss of services of housewives in terms of money, as there is no prescribed norms in the statute. The factors for quantifying the loss of services are to be culled out from the judgments of various Courts and the broad guidelines given in English Laws.

19. Courts in India have recognised the invaluable contribution of the housewife to the house which is more than the pecuniary value. The gratuitous services rendered by wife with true love and affection to the children and her husband and managing the household affairs cannot be equated with the services rendered by others. An housekeeper or maidservant can do the household work, such as cooking food, washing clothes and utensils, keeping the house clean etc., but she can never be a substitute for a wife who would render selfless service to her husband and children. However, the loss of service to the household is estimated on the expenses incurred for the abovesaid multifarious (sic) services rendered by the wife. The claimants who have lost the gratitous service rendered by the deceased are entitled to aequate compensation.

20. The notional income for non-earning member was fixed in the year 1994. Quantifying the pecuniary loss at the same rate or amount even after 13 years after the amendment, ignoring the esclation in the cost of living and the inflation, may not be justifiable. Considering the importance of loss of services and the age of the minors, it would be reasonable to fix the annual contribution of the deceased at Rs. 20,000/- and compute the dependancy compensation.

21. In the present case, the deceased was aged about 27 years at the time of accident, leaving behind two minor children aged about 12 and 2 years respectively. The first respondent was aged about 35 years. Though the respondents have claimed that the deceased was a tailor, they have failed to produce any document to that effect. Two minor children have lost their love and affection of their mother at the tender age and the first respondent-husband has lost her valuable services and for that purpose he would have engaged some other person to look after his children and do other domestic work.

22. Following the decision of the Supreme Court in Divisional Manager, K. S. R. T. C. v. Mahadeva Shetty 2003 AIR SCW 3797, the multiplier applicable to the age of the claimants is 15. Applying the said multiplier to the annual contribution of Rs. 20,000/-, the dependancy compensation works out to Rs. 3,00,000/-. The compensation of Rs. 20,000/-awarded for loss of love and affection to the children aged about 12 and 2 respectively, is not disputed. The Tribunal has failed to award compensation for loss of consortium to the husband. A sum of Rs. 10,000/- is awarded for loss of consortium.

23. In the result, the respondents/claimants are entitled to Rs. 3,35,000/- with 7.5% per annum from the date of claim. The award amount is apportioned hereunder:

Dependancy compensation Rs. 3,00,000/-

Loss of love and affection: Rs. 20,000/-

Loss of consortium: Rs. 10,000/-

Funeral expenses Rs. 5,000/-

Rs. 3,35,000/-

If the amount has already been deposited, the Tribunal is directed to refund the balance amount with proportionate accrued interest to the appellant Insurance Company within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

24. In the result, Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is partly allowed. No costs.