HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL NO. 3848 OF 2004 JUDGMENT: This Appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, is directed against the order dated 12th May 2004 passed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal –cum- IX Additional Chief Judge, (FTC) City Civil Court, Hyderabad in OP No. 2209 of 2002 filed by the appellants-claimants claiming compensation of Rs. 3,00,000/- for the death of one C. Malla Reddy in a motor accident that occurred on 8.8.2002 at abut 6.30 PM while the deceased was sitting on the footpath near Sarathi Studio by the side of the vegetable cart, a Maruthi Van bearing No. AP 10 E 5992 driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner with high speed hit the deceased. Due to which, the deceased sustained grievous injuries and he succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment. The first respondent being owner of the Maruthi Van bearing No. AP 10E 5992 remained ex parte and the second respondent being Insurer filed its counter denying the averments made in the petition. 2. The Tribunal having held that the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the Maruthi Van bearing No. AP 10E 5992 and taking into consideration the evidence of PWs 1 and 2, especially the evidence of PW-2 who is an eye witness to the occurrence, awarded total compensation of Rs. 1,81,943/- with interest at 9% per annum from the date of filing the petition till the date of deposit of the amount into the Court. Aggrieved by the same, the claimants, who are parents of the deceased filed the present appeal. 3. The learned counsel appearing for the claimants contended that the Court below ought to have granted the entire claim amount and it failed to appreciate the evidence on record. He also contended that the Court below failed to consider the loss of a child to the parents and no amount of money could compensate the parents. 4. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the claimants and also perused the entire material made available on record. 5. As seen from the record, it is no doubt true that due to rash and negligent driving of the Maruthi Van bearing No. AP 10E 5992 by it driver, the accident occurred and due to which, the claimant sustained severe injuries and he died while undergoing treatment. As far as the claim of compensation is concerned, according to PW-1 the deceased was studying 5th class and he discontinued his studies and to that effect PW-1 produced the bonafide certificate issued by the Head Master, Primary School, Earlapally Village, which discloses that the deceased studied 5th class in the year 2000. The deceased was a minor aged about 12 years and therefore, as per the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Act, notional income of Rs. 15,000/- has to be taken into consideration. As the age of the deceased is 12 years, 50% of the income should be deducted towards personal and living expenses of the deceased as per the judgment of the Supreme Court report in SARALA VERMA VS. DELHI TRANSPORT CORPORATION[1] and if the same is deducted, the amount comes to Rs. 7,500/- (15,000 x 50/100 = 7,500/-). As the age of the mother of the deceased is 36 years the relevant multiplier for the age group 36 years to 40 years is 15 as per the judgment of the Supreme Court report in Sarala Verma vs. Delhi Transport Corporation (supra-1) and if applied the same, the amount comes to Rs. 1,12,500/- (7,500x15= 1,12,500). An amount of Rs. 55,000/- is granted towards medical expenses and Rs. 10,000 is granted towards loss of estate and Rs. 10,000/- is granted towards funeral expenses. Thus the total amount of compensation granted comes to Rs. 1,87,500/- (1,12,500+ 55,000 +10,000 + 10,000 = 1,87,500). 6. Accordingly, this appeal filed by the claimants is allowed in part enhancing the compensation granted by the Tribunal from Rs. 1,81,943/- to Rs. 1,87,500/-. As far as the interest is concerned, the rate of interest granted by the Tribunal at 9% per annum is reduced to 7% per annum. There shall be no order as to costs. _________________________ GHULAM MOHAMMED, J Date : 23.12.2010 KA [1] 2009 (6) scale 129