FAO Nos.1232 and 1233 of 2010 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.1232 of 2010 Date of Decision : 03.11.2011 Harish Kumar .......Appellant Versus Mukesh Kumar and others …....Respondents And FAO No.1233 of 2010 Date of Decision : 03.11.2011 Harish Kumar .......Appellant Versus Mukesh Kumar and others …....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. Om Pal Sharma, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. Gaurav Jindal, Advocate, for respondent No.1. Mr. Suman Jain, Advocate. **** JITENDRA CHAUHAN, J. (ORAL) Two appeals, bearing FAO Nos.1232 and 1233 of 2010, are being disposed of by this single judgment since the same have arisen out of the same accident and are preferred against the same Award dated 22.04.2009. 1 FAO Nos.1232 and 1233 of 2010 The brief facts leading to the filing of the present appeals are that on 21.01.2008, Sumer Singh along with his wife, Smt. Shanti Devi and neice, Miss Anju, was going to Safidon from Jind City on a motorcycle bearing No.HR-31d-3957. When they reached near Village Amrali Khera, a three-wheeler, which was being driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner and at a fast speed, came from the side of Village Jamni, and struck against the motorcycle of Sumer Singh. Resultantly, all the occupants of the motorcycle suffered multiple and serious injuries. Sumer Singh succumbed to the injuries at the spot. The injured were removed to the General Hospital, Jind, by Gulab Singh, younger brother of Sumer Singh, who had witnessed the incident as he was incidentally standing near the field of one Balraj, a resident of Village Amrali Khera for some domestic work. Smt. Shanti Devi also died on the same day in the hospital. In this background, two separate claim petitions were filed by the children of the deceased seeking compensation on account of the death of their father and mother, respectively. The learned Tribunal, while passing the Award, held other claimants as ineligible to claim compensation being married, and only the present appellant, Harish Kumar, entitled to the same. An amount of `1,82,420/- on account of the death of his father, Sumer Singh, and another amount of `1,78,400/- was granted towards the death of his mother, Smt. Shanti Devi. The appellant has preferred the present appeals seeking enhancement thereof. The learned counsel for the appellants has contend that the deduction and the multiplier is not as per the law laid down by 2 FAO Nos.1232 and 1233 of 2010 Hon’ble the Apex Court in Smt. Smt. Sarla Verma and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2009(3) RCR (Civil) 77. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. In FAO No.1232 of 2010, Sumer Singh, the deceased, was aged 60 years at the time of the accident. The learned Tribunal has assessed the dependency as ½ and the multiplier applied is 5. However, in view of the principles enunciated by Hon’ble the Supreme Court in Sarla Verma’s case (supra), the deduction should have been 1/3rd instead and the multiplier applied should have been 9 instead of 5. Accordingly, the deduction on account of his personal expenses is assessed as 1/3rd and the multiplier is raised from 5 to 9. The income assessed shall remain the same. In FAO No.1233 of 2010, Smt. Shanti, since deceased, was 52 years of age at the time of her death. However, the learned Tribunal, while assessing the compensation, has applied multiplier of 6. It is again contrary to the law laid down in Sarla Verma’s case (supra) and it should have been 9. Accordingly, the multiplier is raised from 6 to 9. The income assessed shall remain the same. In view of the above, FAO Nos.1232 and 1233 of 2010, are partly allowed and the Award of the learned Tribunal is modified to the extent indicated above. The amount of enhanced compensation shall be payable to the claimant-appellant within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order, failing which the appellant shall be entitled to interest @ 7.5% p.a. from the date of filing the present appeals till its realization. 3 FAO Nos.1232 and 1233 of 2010 ( JITENDRA CHAUHAN ) 03.11.2011 JUDGE atulsethi Note: Whether to be referred to reporter ? Yes/No 4