IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA FAO No.: 458 of 2004 Date of decision : 19.11.2009 Gurdial Singh and others …Appellants Versus Gian Chand and another …Respondents Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Gupta, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1.NO. For the Appellants: Mr. R.R.Rahi, Advocate. For the respondent No. 2: Mr. G.D.Sharma, Advocate. Deepak Gupta, J. (oral) This appeal by the claimants has been filed for enhancement of compensation. The facts necessary for the decision of this case are that Smt. Som Lata wife of Gurdial Singh and mother of two minor children, Khagender Singh and Karan Singh and daughter-in-law of Jiwa Ram and Tikmi Devi, died in the accident in question. The claimants filed a petition claiming compensation. The deceased was a house wife. The learned Tribunal has assessed the income of the deceased at Rs. 15,000/- per annum, deducted 1/3 for her personal expenses and assessed the dependency of the family at Rs.10,000/- per year. Applying a multiplier of 17 he assessed the compensation for loss of dependency at Rs.1,70,000/-. He also granted 3000/- for funeral expenses and awarded Rs.2,000/- as 1 Whether the reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the Judgment? 2 consortium. Thus the total compensation works out to Rs.1,75,000/-. Aggrieved by this award, the claimants are in appeal before this Court. The learned Tribunal gravely erred in assessing the contribution of the house wife at only Rs.15,000/- per annum, which would worked out to approximately Rs.1250/- per month. This is even less than what were the prevalent daily wages at the relevant time. While assessing the contribution of a house wife towards her family one cannot shut one’s eye to the fact that in Indian conditions especially in the lower middle classes a house wife is probably the first to get up in the morning and the last to go to bed. She attends to her family from the early hours of the morning till late evening. The value of her services is much more than the value of service which can be provided by a servant. Keeping in view the fact that the accident took place in the year 2002 it would not at all be unreasonable to assess the monetary value of the work being done by a house wife at Rs.100/- per day or Rs.3,000/- per month. The house wife would also spend some time on herself and the husband would have been spending some money on her and deducting 1/3 for her personal expenses the contribution to her family even taking a very conservative estimate could not be assessed at less than Rs.2000/- per month or Rs.24,000/- per year. As far as the multiplier is concerned the deceased was aged 33 years. She left behind two minor children aged 8 and 10 years. Her husband is about 38 years. Keeping all the facts into consideration and the law laid down by the Apex Court in Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi 3 Transport Corporation and another, (2009) 6 SCC 121 the appropriate multiplier would be 16 and therefore, the compensation for loss of dependency works out to Rs.2000x12x16=3,84,000/-. In addition thereto, the claimants are entitled to Rs.10,000/- as conventional damages and Rs.5,000/- for funeral expenses. The husband is also held entitled to loss of consortium, which is assessed at Rs.10,000/-. The claimants are, therefore, entitled to Rs.4,09,000/- On this amount the claimants shall also be entitled to interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till deposit/payment of the amount. The amount is apportioned as follows:- 1. Gurdial Singh : Rs.1,29,000/- 2. Khagender Singh (son) Rs.1,25,000/- 3. Karan Singh (son) Rs.1,25,000/- 4. Jiwa Ram Rs, 15,000/- 5. Tikmi Devi Rs. 15,000/- The Insurance company is directed to deposit the enhanced amount of compensation alongwith interest in the Registry of this Court within a period of 12 weeks from today. The appeal is disposed of in the aforesaid terms. No order as to costs. 19th November, 2009 ( Deepak Gupta ) ™ Judge.