IN THE HI GH COURT OF PUNJ AB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O. No. 23 05 of 20 06 Date of Decision : January 29, 2009 Smt. Joginder Kaur and others ....Appellants Versus Jang Singh and others .....Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.P.S. MANN Present : Mr. Ashwani Arora, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. Ravinder Arora, Advocate for respondent No. 3. T.P.S. MANN, J. Claim petition filed by the appellants under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for grant of compensation to them on account of death of Dalbara Singh in a motor vehicular accident was allowed by the learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh on May 09, 2005 and they were awarded an amount of Rs.7,09,000/- as compensation against respondent No.2-owner of the offending truck and respondent No.3-insurer of the offending truck, jointly as well as severally. The claimants were also held entitled to interest upon the amount so awarded at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual realisation. Pleading that the amount of compensation awarded was highly inadequate and nothing had been awarded to the widow on account of loss of consortium and to the children for loss of love and F.A.O. No. 2305 of 2006 -2- affection and funeral expenses incurred by the claimants, they have filed the present appeal under Section 173 of the Act with a prayer for enhancement of the amount of compensation. On 2.9.2000 at about 6.30 P.M., Dalbara Singh, aged 40 years and working as Lashkar in ARS-II No. 3-BRD Air Force, was traveling as a pillion rider on a scooter driven by Gurbachan Singh. They were proceeding from Zirakpur to Dayalpur when, it was alleged that, a truck bearing registration No.MH-04-H-2235, driven by Jang Singh-respondent No.1, came from behind at a fast speed in a rash and negligent manner and struck against the scooter, as a result of which both the occupants of the scooter fell down and received injuries. Dalbara Singh, however, succumbed to those injuries. According to the claimants-appellants, who are widow and children of Dalbara Singh, the deceased was earning Rs.5,000/- per month and, therefore, they filed the claim petition and prayed for awarding them an amount of Rs.10,00,000/- as compensation. The claim petition was resisted by the Insurance Company only by filing the written statement and pleading therein that the driver of the offending truck was not holding a valid driving licence at the time of the accident. Even the truck was not insured with it. No such accident, as stated by the claimants, ever occurred and, therefore, they were not entitled to be awarded any amount of compensation. The amount claimed was highly exaggerated. F.A.O. No. 2305 of 2006 -3- On the pleadings of the parties, learned Tribunal framed the following issues :- 1. Whether Dalbara Singh died on 2.9.2002 at about 6.30 P.M. on account of rash and negligent driving by driver of truck No. MH-04-H-2235 in the area of village Dayalpur ? OPP. 2. Whether the claimants are entitled to compensation being legal representatives of late Dalbara Singh, if so how much and from whom ? OPR. 3. Whether the driver of the offending vehicle was not holding valid driving licence at the time of accident ? OPR. 4. Relief. It may also be mentioned here that Gurbachan Singh, who was driving the scooter and had received injuries therein, also filed separate petition so as to claim an amount of Rs.5,00,000/- as compensation. After the framing of the issues in the said claim petition, both the petitions were consolidated by the learned Tribunal. After hearing learned counsel for the claimants and going through the evidence available on the record, learned Tribunal held that the accident had taken place due to the rash and negligent driving of truck bearing registration No. MH-04-H-2235 by respondent No.1. The F.A.O. No. 2305 of 2006 -4- deceased was held to be drawing Rs.4,795/- per month as salary and 42 years of age at the time of the accident. After applying the principle of 1/3rd deduction, the dependency was worked out at Rs.3,282/- per month or Rs.39,384/- per annum. The multiplier of 15 was applied for arriving at the figure of Rs.5,90,760/- to be awarded as compensation. An amount of Rs.1,18,152/-, being 20% of Rs.5,90,760/-, was also awarded keeping in view the age and the rank, which the deceased was holding and the rank which he could have achieved in future so as to award a total amount of Rs.7,08,912/- (rounded of to Rs.7,09,000/-) as compensation. It may also be mentioned here that the learned Tribunal dismissed the claim petition filed by Gurbachan Singh. As the Insurance Company has not filed any appeal and only the claimants are before this Court praying for enhancement of the amount of compensation, the issue which requires determination is as to the amount of compensation, which claimants would be entitled to on account of death of Dalbara Singh in the motor vehicular accident. There is no dispute that the deceased was drawing a monthly salary of Rs.4,795/- while working as Lashkar with Air Force. He was born on 7.5.1958 and on the date of the accident, i.e. on 2.9.2000, he was 42 years of age. Under these circumstances, it cannot be said that the multiplier of 15 as awarded by the learned Tribunal was on the lower side. The actual income of the deceased on the day of accident F.A.O. No. 2305 of 2006 -5- was Rs.4,795/- per month. It can be rounded of to Rs.4,800/- per month. As the family of the deceased consisted of his wife and five children, the dependency ought to be calculated at 3/4th instead of 2/3rd as done by the learned Tribunal. Therefore, the dependency is to be taken as Rs.3,600/- per month or Rs.43,200/- per annum. Applying the multiplier of 15, the total dependency comes to Rs.6,48,000/-. Learned Tribunal, while considering the further increase in the salary etc. of the deceased and also his age and rank which he was holding, was of the view that an overall increase of 20% would be required so as to arrive at the total amount of compensation. While doing so, learned Tribunal had awarded an amount of Rs.1,18,152/- and adding the same to Rs.5,90,760/- which was the dependency so as to award an amount of Rs.7,08,912/- as compensation. On the same principle, an amount of Rs.1,29,600/- can also be awarded in addition to Rs.6,48,000/- as stated above so as to arrive at a figure of Rs.7,77,600/- as compensation. The said figure can be rounded of to Rs.7,78,000/-. Learned Tribunal did not award any compensation to the widow of Dalbara Singh on account of loss of consortium and to his children towards loss of love and affection. Besides, no amount was awarded towards funeral charges incurred by the claimants. Taking an overall picture of the case, this Court is of the view that another amount of Rs.22,000/-, in all, can be awarded to the claimants on the aforementioned three counts. Adding the said amount of Rs.22,000/- F.A.O. No. 2305 of 2006 -6- to the amount of Rs.7,78,000/- as compensation it is held that the claimants-appellants are held entitled to a total amount of Rs.8,00,000/- as compensation. Resultantly, the appeal is accepted by enhancing the amount of compensation from Rs.7,09,000/- to Rs.8,00,000/- with no order as to costs. The claimants shall also be entitled to interest at the rate of 9% on the enhanced amount of compensation from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realisation. Respondents No.2 and 3 shall be jointly and severally to pay the enhanced amount of compensation. However, it is directed that the enhanced amount of compensation be paid to the widow of the deceased. ( T.P.S. MANN ) January 29, 2009 JUDGE satish Whether to be referred to the Reporters : YES / NO