HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P. SWAROOP REDDY CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL No.2877 OF 2003 JUDGMENT: This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is filed by the APSRTC assailing the order dated 27-02-2003 in O.P. No.42 of 1998 passed by the learned Chairman, Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal – cum – I Additional District Judge, Chittoor, whereby the Tribunal awarded compensation of Rs.2,04,500/- to the claimants with interest at 9% per annum. 2. Respondent Nos.1 and 2 herein are claimants and respondent No.3 herein, who is owner of the jeep bearing No.AP-03- 729, is respondent No.2 in the O.P. 3. The facts, in brief, are as follows: (a) On 03-10-1997, while the deceased Y.S. Munikrishna Reddy was travelling in the jeep bearing No.AP-03-729 belonging to respondent No.3 from Kallur to Rompicherla, at about 5-30 PM, when the jeep was proceeding near Kongaravaripalle near Pulicherla, the bus bearing No.AAZ – 9234 belonging to the appellant came in a most rash and negligent manner and dashed against the jeep. As a result, the deceased sustained severe multiple injuries and died on the way while he was being taken to Tirupati for treatment. A case in Crime No.72 of 1997 was registered against the driver of the bus and also the jeep driver. (b) According to the claimants, the deceased was aged 27 years on the date of accident and he was running a School at Kallur under the name and style of Vidya Sagar School along with one Venugopal and Masthan and he was also working as Hindi Pandith in that School and earning Rs.2,500/- per month. He was doing some other jobs and earning money. The deceased was living with his parents. The family of the deceased had Acs.3½ acres of dry land and Acs.1½ of wetland and he was doing cultivation also. Thus, the deceased was earning more than Rs.50,000/- per month. Hence, the claimants have claimed compensation of Rs.4,00,000/-. (c) The appellant – respondent No.1 (APSRTC) filed counter denying the case of the claimants contending that driver of the jeep was negligent and he is responsible for the accident. (d) Respondent No.3, owner of the jeep, filed counter denying the case of the claimants contending that the deceased was aged more than 40 years at the time of accident and he was unemployed and that the accident has taken place on account of rash and negligent driving of the driver of the bus. 4. Based on the above pleadings, the following issues were framed by the trial Court: 1. Whether the petitioners (claimants) are the legal heirs of the deceased – Y.S. Munikrishna Reddy ? 2. Whether the death of the deceased Y.S. Munikrishna Reddy was caused (Sic. died) due to the involvement of the ill-fated vehicles i.e. bus bearing No.AAZ – 9234 and the Jeep bearing No.AP-03-729 by the rash and negligent driving of their respective drivers ? 3. Whether the petitioners are entitled for compensation, if so, to what amount and from whom ? 5. To prove their case, claimants got examined PWs.1 to 3 and got marked Exs.A-1 to 11 apart from Ex.X-1, salary acquaintance register issued by PW.3. On behalf of the appellant and the owner of the jeep, RWs.1 and 2 respectively were examined and Exs.B-1 and B-2 were marked. 6. Based on the evidence on record, the Tribunal awarded compensation of Rs.2,04,500/- to the claimants with interest at 9% per annum against the appellant – APSRTC and owner of the jeep jointly and severally. Aggrieved of the same, APSRTC filed this appeal. 7. Heard Sri P. Vinayaka Swamy, learned counsel appearing for the appellant – APSRTC, and Sri R. Ananda Mohan Rao, learned counsel appearing for the claimants, and perused the material on record. 8. Since there is no dispute about the claimants being parents of the deceased dependent on the deceased and they alone are entitled to the compensation, now the only question that arises for consideration is whether the quantum of compensation awarded to the claimants is appropriate ? 9. According to the claimants, the deceased was having various avocations, as already referred. Ex.A-1 certificate shows that the deceased passed Hindi Pandith examination, the Tribunal believed that the deceased was working as Hindi Pandith and earning Rs.2,500/- per month. But, the case of the claimants that the deceased was earning Rs.1,500/- per month by giving tuitions and some income from agricultural operations etc., out of total income of Rs.50,000/- per month, is not accepted by the Tribunal. Accordingly, taking the income of the deceased as Rs.2,500/- per month by working as Hindi Pandith, the Tribunal computed the loss of dependency to the claimants i.e., contribution of the deceased to his family at Rs.20,000/- per annum by deducting 1/3rd of the amount from Rs.30,000/- towards his personal expenses. Since the deceased died unmarried, his mother’s age was taken into consideration and accordingly multiplier 11 is applied for computing the loss of dependency and awarded a total compensation of Rs.2,04,500/-, which includes Rs.2,000/- towards funeral expenses and Rs.2,500/- towards loss of estate. 10. Though both the drivers i.e., drivers of the bus and the jeep were chargesheeted, jeep driver pleaded guilty of the offence and was convicted, it is contended that to help the bus driver, the jeep driver was made to plead guilty, as the bus driver would lose his employment, it was accepted and held that both the drivers of the vehicles involved in the accident are responsible for the accident by taking the other evidence on record into consideration. Thus, there is nothing wrong in Tribunal holding that both the drivers of the vehicles were negligent and apportioning the compensation between both the vehicles. 11. In these circumstances, absolutely there are no grounds to interfere with the findings of the Tribunal. 12. However, rate of interest on the compensation can be reduced from 9% per annum to 7.5% per annum as per the recent decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and it is accordingly reduced to 7.5% per annum from the date of petition. 13. With the above modification in the rate of interest, the Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is allowed in part. No order as to costs. __________________ P. SWAROOP REDDY, J June 18, 2010. PV