RANCHI, India, March 25 -- Jharkhand High Court issued the following order on Feb. 20:

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The challenge in this appeal is to the impugned award dated 02.08.2016 to the extent it awards a meagre compensation of Rs. 4,11,000/- for the demise of Shyam Sunder Prasad, the claimants' husband/father, in a vehicular accident on 16.07.2013.

3. The learned counsel for the appellant firstly sought an adjournment in the matter, but when it was clarified that, as the appeal relates to 2016, no requests for adjournment would be entertained, the learned counsel applied for a pass over to enable himself to prepare for the matter. The pass over was granted, and thereupon, the learned counsel for the appellant has argued in this matter.

4. The Tribunal in this case has determined the deceased's monthly income to be Rs. 3,000/-. This is despite evidence that the deceased worked as a Machine Operator at G.R. Industries, Adityapur. A certificate was issued by this Establishment stating that he was drawing Rs. 7,900/- per month. A.W. 4, on behalf of the Establishment, deposed in the matter and proved the certificate which was marked as Exhibit-2.

5. The Tribunal, after noting that some amount of guess work is permissible and because no pay slip, PF deductions or income tax deductions documents were produced, determined the monthly salary at only Rs.3000/- Considering that the salary of the deceased was only Rs.7,900/-, there was no reason to conclude that the deceased was a tax-payer and that deductions from the salary were a must. So, deductions for PF depend on several factors, including the number of employees. There was no reason to doubt the evidence of A.W. 4 or the certificate which was proved through him.

6. The accident took place in 2013, and the deceased, who was about 50 years old at the time of the accident and his demise, was working as a Machine Operator. Accordingly, it is difficult to accept his salary as only Rs. 3,000/- per month, or that the salary of Rs. 7,900/- per month was highly exaggerated. Therefore, the deceased's salary will be determined at Rs. 7,900/- per month. A 30% addition will have to be made towards future prospects. At the same time, a 25% deduction will have to be made because this amount the deceased would have used for himself. This is consistent with the law laid down in Sarla Verma v. DTC, (2009) 6 SCC 121, and National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=7yg5D%2FmJmLJFbv9l4Wl3vWOOjI2lslEYBLXWzOeBS%2BuTsUiN9wTIGgWSuhHSP5M4&caseno=MA/660/2016&cCode=1&cino=JHHC010293082016&state_code=7&appFlag=)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.