IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O. No. 836 of 1991 Date of Decision : April 20, 2010 Arati Roy and others ....Appellants Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.P.S. MANN Present : Mr. L.M.Suri, Senior Advocate with Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. P.S. Sidhu, Additional Advocate General, Punjab for respondents No.1 and 2. None for respondent No.3. T.P.S. MANN, J.(Oral) By way of present appeal filed by the claimants under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, they have prayed for enhancement of the amount of compensation awarded to them on account of death of Dr.Tamal Kanti Roy in a motor vehicular accident. It was averred in the claim petition that on 2.1.1990 at about 1.10 p.m., the deceased was going on a scooter on the road dividing Sectors 36 and 42, Chandigarh. He was driving his scooter on left side of the road when a bus belonging to Punjab Roadways, Amritsar, came from Mohali side and struck into the scooter of the deceased near the crossing of the roads leading to Sectors 36 and 42. The bus was being driven by FAO No. 836 of 1991 -2- Mehar Singh-respondent No.3, who did not blow the horn and struck the bus with the scooter of the deceased by swerving the bus towards his right, as a result whereof the deceased fell on the ground and received serious injuries. He was rushed to General Hospital and then to PGI where he breathed his last. The claimants, who are widow and two minor children of the deceased had filed the claim petition wherein they sought compensation of Rs.20,00,000/-. After going through the evidence, learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh, held that Dr.Tamal Kanti Roy, working as a scientist in the Institute of Microbial Technology, Sector 39-A, Chandigarh died because of the rashness and negligence of bus driver Mehar Singh. The deceased was a Government employee and as per pay certificate Ex.A2 his total gross emoluments were Rs.5425/- in the grade of Rs.3700- 5000. This was after the revision of his pay whereas as per earlier pay certificate Ex.A3, his emoluments were Rs.5350/-. The Tribunal went on to determine the dependency of the claimants at the rate of Rs.2000/- per month or Rs.24,000/- per annum. As the deceased was aged about 40 years, multiplier of 16 was applied so as to grant an amount of Rs.3,84,000/- as compensation to the claimants-appellants. All the respondents were held jointly and severally liable to pay the amount of compensation to the claimants alongwith interest @ 12% per annum from the date of the petition till realization of the amount. However, the amount so awarded was held to be inclusive of the amount of Rs.25,000/- already awarded by way of interim compensation. FAO No. 836 of 1991 -3- The short point involved in the present appeal is about the dependency of the claimants. It has been found as a matter of fact by the learned Tribunal that the deceased was earning Rs.5350/- per month as emoluments but after the revision of his pay, he was getting Rs.5425/- per month as salary in the grade of Rs.3700-5000. The monthly income of the deceased could safely be pegged at Rs.54,00/-. As he left behind his widow and two minor children, the dependency had to placed at 2/3rds, i.e. Rs.3,600/- per month or Rs.43,200/- per annum after leaving the remaining which the deceased might be spending upon himself. By applying the multiplier of 16, as had been done by the Tribunal earlier, the claimants were entitled to receive an amount of Rs.6,91,200/- as compensation and not just Rs.3,84,000/- awarded under the impugned award. Resultantly, the amount of compensation is enhanced from Rs.3,84,000/- to Rs.6,91,200/-. The claimants shall also be entitled to interest on the enhanced amount @ 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till realization of the said amount. All the respondents shall be jointly and severally liable to pay the amount of compensation. The entire enhanced amount shall be paid to claimant-Mrs.Arati Roy. The appeal is, accordingly, allowed to the extent indicated above. ( T.P.S. MANN ) April 20, 2010 JUDGE ajay-1