FAO No. 554 of 1992 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.554 of 1992 Decided on : 16-12-2008 Daljit Kaur (dead) through her LRs ....Appellants VERSUS Surjit Singh and others. ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mr. Y.P.Khullar, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. Suvir Dewan, Advocate for respondent no.3. MAHESH GROVER, J This appeal is directed against the award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ludhiana dated 3.2.1992. The claimants are the parents who were awarded a compensation of Rs. 34,400/- on account of death of their son Jagjit Singh in a vehicular accident which took place on 15.10.1990. The Tribunal took the income of the deceased as Rs. 1348/- per month which was rounded off to Rs.1350/- per month i.e. Rs.16200/- per annum and deducted 3/ 4th of this amount on account of personal expenses and dependency in this manner was assessed as Rs.4050/- per annum. Multiplier of 8 was applied to arrive at the figure of Rs. 32,400/-. An amount of Rs.2000/- was awarded on account of funeral expenses. Dis-satisfied with the award, the claimants are in appeal. FAO No. 554 of 1992 2 After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the award, I am of the considered opinion that the award of the Tribunal deserves to be modified. The deceased was a bachelor and was supporting his family. He was a regular employee working in Punjab State Electricity Board and was drawing a salary of Rs. 1350/- per month. As his career progressed, he would certainly have got an increase in his salary. Therefore, future prospects would have to be taken into consideration. The principle to assess future loss of income is to double the amount and then add to the salary which is being earned by the incumbent and to take average of the two figures. In this manner, income comes to Rs.2025/- per month (2700+1350 = 4050/2 = 2025). A cut of 1/4th will be just and appropriate and dependency in this manner comes to Rs.1518 per month i.e. Rs.18,216/- per annum. Multiplier of 8 applied by the Tribunal is just and adequate in the given set of circumstances. In this manner, compensation comes to Rs. 1,45,728/-. An amount of Rs.2,000/- awarded on account of funeral expenses is enhanced to Rs.10,000/-. An another sum of Rs.10,000/- is also awarded on account of loss of love and affection. Therefore, the total compensation comes to Rs. 1,65,728/- The enhanced amount of compensation shall be paid alongwith interest at the rate of 9 % per annum from the date of filing of petition till the date of its realisation. Since the claimants have expired and the application for bringing the LRs of deceased claimants has already been allowed on 18.4.2007 and also keeping in view the legal proposition that after the death of the claimants, the LRs would be entitled to the estate of the deceased, the amount of compensation shall be released to the newly added LRs of the FAO No. 554 of 1992 3 deceased claimants in equal shares. The liability to pay the amount shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. The appeal stands allowed in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal is modified accordingly. December 16 , 2008 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge