FAO No.6403 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.6403 of 2010 Date of decision: 1.11.2011 Smt.Renu and others ....Appellants Versus Satbir alias Bokra and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr.Sidharath Yadav, Advocate for the appellants Mr.AK Yadav, Advocate for Mr.Vikram Singh, Advocate for respondent No.1. None for respondent No.2. Mr.Ravinder Arora, Advocate for respondent No.3. ***** Jitendra Chauhan, J.(Oral) The present appeal has been filed by the claimants/appellants, who are the wife, minor children and mother, seeking enhancement of the compensation amount awarded by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Sonipat (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 31.3.2010, on account of death of Dharam Raj. It has been contended by learned counsel for the appellants that the learned Tribunal has wrongly assessed the dependency. As as per Smt. Sarla Verma and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2009(3) RCR (Civil) 77 , where the dependents are four in number, 1/4th FAO No.6403 of 2010 2 deduction should be made. He further contended that the amount awarded i.e. ` 5000/- towards the loss of consortium is also on the lower side. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondents has opposed the prayer of appellants and submits that the learned Tribunal has rightly assessed the compensation and therefore, there is no scope of enhancement. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record carefully. From a perusal of the record, it emerges that appellants- claimants, who are the dependents, have lost their husband, father and son in an motor vehicular accident, which took place on 27.4.2009. The age of the deceased was 35 years, as per post mortem report at the time of his death. Further, there is no documentary record regarding the income of the deceased. Therefore, the learned Tribunal considering him as a casual labourer and assessed his income as ` 3,000/- per month, which is adequate. Further, the multiplier of 16 applied by the learned Tribunal is also as per the law laid down in Smt.Sarla Verma's case because at the time of death of the deceased, he was aged 35 years. However, as per the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Smt.Sarla Verma's case, the dependency must be reduced from 1/3rd to 1/4th as there are four dependents i.e. wife, two minor children and mother. Thus, the compensation on calculation comes to ` 4,32,000/- (2250 x 12 x 16)/-. Further the deceased was the only bread earner in the family. He left behind his wife, two minor school going children and old mother. Therefore, an amount of ` 10,000/- more is awarded towards loss of consortium and loss of love and affection, which FAO No.6403 of 2010 3 would meet the ends of justice. Accordingly, the enhanced amount i.e. ` 58,000/- shall be paid to the claimants/appellants, in the manner indicated in the impugned award, within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of the certified copy of this judgment, failing which, the same shall carry interest @ 7.5 % per annum from the date of filing of the present appeal, till its payment. In view of above, the present appeal is partly allowed with the modification indicated above in the impugned Award. 1.11.2011 (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) gsv JUDGE