@ HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA, CJ. HON'BLE SHRI RANGNATH CHANDRAKAR, J Misc Appeal (Cl No.322 of 2011 Appellants Claimants 1 Umesh Patel, s/o Nanki Ram Patel, aged 36 years, Occupation Business 2 Minro Ayush, $/o Umesh Patel, age about4years Both r/o Village Kotmap, Tahsil and District Raigarh (CG) Respondents VERSUS ^ ^i^'- Madan Lal Yadav, s/o Shri Ram Yadav, Occupation Driver, R/o Kashi Jaggannath road West Gandharpur, Katak, DistrictKatak (CG) Sushil Kumar Singhal, s/o Mohan Lal Singhal, Occupation Owner of the Vehicle r/o Kendua Bazar, Kusanda Near Thakur, Badi Dhanbad District Dhanbad (Jharkhand) The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Jamshedpur, Through Branch Manager, the Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Branch Raigarh District - Raigarh Miscellaneous Appeal under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act Present : Ms Uma Patel, counsel for the appellants. Shri Raj Awasthi, counsel for respondent No.3. ORDER rth (27tnSeptember,-2011) //""€^~ ff ^^ 1 1 "^^ 1 1. ff \,^»^y^ ••y-v .. .-,,.-. M.A.C.No.322of2011 1. "^^. The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the IVtotor Accident Claims Tribunal, Raigarh (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 02.12.2010, passed in Claim Case No.37/2009. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.26,62,000/- claimed by the appellants/claimants, unfortunate husband and minor son of deceased Smt Pushpa Patel by filing a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act for her death in the motor accident on 18.01.2009, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.3,00,000/- as compensation along with interest @ 8% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 3) The Tribunal on a close scrutiny of the entire evidence led before it held that deceased Smt Pushpa Patel died on account of the injuries sustained by her in the motor accident on 18.01.2009; the accideht occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver ^. of the offending vehicle Truck bearing registration No.JH 10 N 2512; as the aboveoffending vehicle Truck at the time of the accident was insured with the Oriental Insurance Company Limited and the Insurance Company could not establish any breach of the policy conditions, the Insurance Company was liable to pay : compensation to the claimants. '^ ^y^ /^^,. y/^ "vi. 1 '^:1^ ^ M.A.C.No.322of2011 4) As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the above findings recorded by the Tribunal have now attained finality. 5) The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.2,000/- per month and Rs.24,000/- per annum. By deducting 1/3 of Rs.24,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, theclaimants' dependency was assessed at Rs. 16,0007- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.16,000/- with the multiplier of 15, the compensation was worked out to Rs.2,40,000/-. By awarding further sum of Rs.60,000/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total stun of Rs.3,00,000/- as compensation to the claimants for the death of deceased Smt Pushpa Patel in the motor accident. The Tribunal further directed payment of interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.3,00,000/- @ 8% per annum from the date of the filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. 6) Ms JUma Patel, learned counsel for the appellants vehemently argued that the Tribunal has erred in assessing the income of the deceased at Rs.2,000i(- per month and Rs.24,000/- per annum only; in selecting the lower multiplier of 15; and in awarding low compensation of Rs.3,00,000/- only. 7) Shri Raj Awasthi, learned counsel for respondent No.3 the Oriental Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle Truck on the other hand supported the award and contended that the compensation of Rs.3,00,000/- awarded by the \. ^- t%,A^»1 M.A.C.No.322of2011 ^; Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 8) True, the claimants pleaded that deceased Smt Pushpa Patel used to earn Rs.5,000/- per month .from tuition, no cogent and reliable evidence was led before the Tribunal for establishing the income of the deceased to the extent of Rs.5,000/- per month. In this state of evidence, we do not find any infirmity in the assessment of the income of the deceased by the Tribunal at Rs.2,000/- per month and Rs.24,000/- per annum. 9) The claimants' dependency also has been rightly assessed by the Tribunal at Rs.16,000/- per annum^by deducting the usual 1/3rd of Rs.24,000/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased. 10) The multiplier of 15 selected by the Tribunal also cannot be said to be on the lower side as claimant No.1 Umesh Patel, husband of deceased Smt Pushpa Patel was found to be 37 years of age by t^ie Tribunal and in view of the dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt) ahd others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and ano^her reported in (2009) 6 Supreme Court Cases 121, wherein multiplier of 15 has been prescribed for the age group between 36-40 years. 11) For the foregoing reasons, we do not find any scope for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Tribunal either on account of the assessment of the income of the deceased, or the claimants' dependency by the Tribunal or the multiplier selected. -^' padma ^^ M.A.C.No.322of2011 12) The appeal filed by the appellants / claimants for enhancement of the compensation, therefore, is liable to be dismissed and is hereby dismissed. 13) No order as to costs. --^ Sd/- ChiefJustice Sd/- R.N. Chandrakar Judge