FAO No. 2146 of 2009 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 2146 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 19.2.2010 ... Ajay Kumar and others ................Appellants vs. Satish Kumar and others .................Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice K.C. Puri Present: Sh. J.S. Saneta, Advocate for the appellants Ms. Vandana Malhotra, Advocate for respondent No.4- Insurance Company. ... K.C. Puri, J. (Oral) This is an appeal preferred for enhancement of compensation by husband, four children, father-in-law and mother-in-law of deceased Angrezo, on account of her death in a motor vehicular accident. The Tribunal has taken the income of the deceased as Rs.3,000/- per month and 1/3rd of the amount has been deducted on account of expenses incurred upon Angrezo for maintaining herself. In this manner yearly dependency has been taken as Rs.24,000/- per year. The multiplier applied by the Tribunal is 16. In this manner the FAO No. 2146 of 2009 -2- amount of Rs.3,84,000/- has been calculated. Husband has been held to claim Rs.20,000/- on account of loss of consortium and Rs.10,000/- has been granted to the claimants on account of funeral expenses. In this manner, the amount of compensation is calculated as Rs.4,14,000/-. Learned counsel for the claimants has submitted that dependency has been taken on lower side. Learned counsel for the Insurance Company has relied upon the authority reported as Smt. Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another 2009 (3) RCR (Civil) 77, and on the strength of same it is argued that appellants No. 6 and 7 are not dependent on the income of their daughter-in-law. Keeping in view the said authority, husband and children can be stated to be dependents and father-in-law and mother-in-law cannot be stated to be dependent upon the deceased. Accordingly, there are five dependents i.e. husband and four children who happens to be appellants No. 1 to 5. In view of Smt. Sarla Verma's case (Supra) in case dependent family members are 4 to 6, deduction should be 1/4th in respect of expenses incurred by the deceased for her maintenance. The income taken by the Tribunal as Rs.3,000/- per month has been correctly assessed. After deducting 1/4th amount in respect of maintenance of the deceased, the monthly dependency of appellants No. 1 to 5 comes to Rs.2,250/- and in this manner, the yearly dependency comes to Rs.27,000/- ( 2250 X 12 ). The multiplier applicable according to Smt. Sarla Verma's case (Supra) for age FAO No. 2146 of 2009 -3- group of 36-40 is 15. So, by applying the multiplier of 15, the amount calculated is Rs.4,05,000/- ( 27000 X 15 ). The Tribunal has granted another amount of Rs.30,000/- in respect of loss of consortium and funeral expenses. So, in this manner, the claimants are held entitled to claim Rs.4,35,000/- as compensation. The enhanced amount of Rs.21,000/- shall be paid to claimants-appellants No. 1 to 5 in equal share. The said amount shall also carry interest @ 7% per annum from the date of appeal till its realisation. The liability to pay the said amount shall be the same as held by the Tribunal. The appeal stands disposed of. ( K.C. Puri ) 19.2.2010 Judge chugh