A.F.i^. HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR DIVISION BENCH CORAM: HON'BLE SHRI RAJEEV GUPTA. C.J. HON'BLE SHRI SUNIL KUIViAR SINHA. J. ^ Appellants/ CSaimants ^^NNU^B^^' ^. Respondents Non-cjaimants Misc. Appeal (C l No. 1131 of 2009 1 Smt. Chandrawati Devi, W7o Late Deepla! Ram, aged about 33 years, Occupation Housewife 2 Ajeetram, S/o Late Deeplal Ram, aged about 05 years 3 Janki, D/o Late Deeplal Ram, aged about 04 years 4 Santosh Rani. S/o Late Deeplal Ram, aged about 02 years. (Appellant No.2 to 4 being minor on behalf of through their legal guardian mother appellant No.1 Smt Chandrawati DSVJ) 5 Smt. Rukhmani Devi, W/o Basantram, aged about 53 years 6 Basant Ram, S/o Late Roopa Ram, aged about 55 years All R/o House No.193/8, Balaji Nagar, Zone-2, Bhilai, District Durg (C.G.) Versus 1 Vedeshiram Tandi, S/o Ghasiram Tandi, aged about 36 years, R/o Zone-3, Sector-11, Kranti Nagar, Khurshipar, District Durg (C.G.) (Driver of vehicle Truck bearing registration No.C.G. 07 E/2446) 2 Chhattisgarh Steel Casting Pvt. Ltd., 33/C, Light Industrial Area, Bhilai, District Durg (C.G.) (Registered of vehicie Truck bearing registration No.CG 07 E/2446) 3 The Divjsional Manager, The New india Insurance Company Limited, through Djvjslonai' I'vtanager, Dlvtsjona! Offjce, 1st Floor, Life Insurance D Corporation Building, Commercial Campus, Pandrl, Rajpur, Tahsjl and District Raipur (C.G.) (Insurer of vehiole Truck bearing Registration No.CG 07 E/2446) Memorandum of Appeal under Section 173 of the Motor VehidesAct.1988 Present : Shri Dharmesh Shrivastava, Counsel for the appellants. None for respondent No.1, though served. Shri Ra| Awasthi, Counsel for respondent No.3. ORDER (19th November, 2009) The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J. This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Seventh Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (FTC) , Durg (C.G.), (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 28.02.2009 passed in Claim Case No.68/2008. 2) As against the compensation of Rs.12,08,200/- claimed by the appellants/claimants, unfortunate widow and minor children of deceased Deeplal Ram by filing a claim petition under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act (henceforth, "the Act") for his death in the motor accident on 02.12.2007, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.2,66,500/- as compensatlon along with Interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actual payment. it' '^^St?^^ ' ^S ^k^J/ ~^^^^ ^\ 3) The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.3000/- per month and Rs.36,000/- per annum. By deducting 1/3rd of the income of the deceased towards his personal expenses, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.24,000/- per annum. By muttiplying the annual dependency of Rs.24,000/- with the muttiplier of 10, the compensation was worked out to Rs.2,40,000/-. By awarding a further sum of Rs.26,500/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.2,66,500/- as compensation to the claimants along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the daim petition till the date of actual payment. 4) Shri Dharmesh Shrivastava, tearned counsel for the appellants submitted that the Tribunal has erred Sn not accepting the claimants' evidence about the income of the deceased; and in assessing his income at Rs.3,000/- per month and Rs.36,000/- per annum; in selecting lower multiplier of 10; and in awarding low compensation of Rs.2,66,500/- only. 5) Shri Raj Awasthi, learned counsel for respondent No.3, The New India Insurance Company Limited on the other hand supported the award and contended that, as the claimants could not establish the income of the deceased as pleaded by them, the compensation of Rs.2,66,500/- awarded by the Tribunal is just and proper compensation in the facts and circumstances of the present case. 4 ^ 91 ^l/ / 6) As the respondents have not filed any appeal against the award, the findings recorded by the Tribunal that deceased Deeplal Ram died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 02/12/2007; the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Truck; as the offending vehicle Truck on the date of the accident was insured with the New India Insurance Company Limited, the Insurance Company was liable to pay compensation to the claimants, now have attained finality. That apart, these findings are not under challenge before us in this appeal. We, therefore, afflrm the above findings recorded by the Tribunal. 7) True, theclaimants pleaded that deceased Deeplal Ram used to earn Rs.110/- per day and Rs.3300/- per month. The evidence led in that behalf was not of cllnching nature. We, therefore, do not find any infirmity in the assessment of the income of the deceased by the Tribunal at Rs.3000/- per month and Rs.36000/- per annum. 8) The claimants' dependency atso has been lightly assessed by the Tribunal by deducting 1/3rd of Rs.36000/- towards the personal expenses ofthe deceased. 9) The multiplier of 10 selected by the Tribunal is certainly on the lower side. Deceased Deeplal Ram was aged about 35 years on the date of the accident, whereas his widow claimant No.1 Smt. Chandrawati Devi was shown to be 33 years of age in the claim n s> petition. In our considered opinion, multiplier of 15 would be appropriate in the present case. 10) By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.24,000/- with the multiplier of 15, the compensation works out to Rs.3,60,000/-. The claimants are further entitled to receive Rs.5000/- towards funeral expenses; Rs.5000/- towards loss of estate; and Rs.5000/- for loss of consortium to the widow. The claimants, thus, become entitled to receive a totat sum of Rs.3,75,000/- as compensation for the death of deceased Deeplal Ram in the motor accident. 11) Considering all the relevant factors including the delay in disposal of the claim petition and the present appeal, and the fact that the Insurance Company alone is not to be blamed forthe entire delay in the matter, we quantity the amount of interest on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,08,500/- at Rs.6,500/-. 12) For the foregoing reasons, the appeal filed by the appellants/claimants for enhancement of the compensation is allowed in part. The compensation of Rs.2,66,500/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.3,75,000/- with further quantifled amount of interest of Rs.6,500/- on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,08,500/-. 13) Respondent No.3 The New India Insurance Company Limited is granted three months' time for depositing the total sum of Rs.1,15,000/- (Rs.1,08,500/- towards enhanced amount of compensation + Rs.6,500/- towards quantified amount of Snterest ^ on the enhanced amount of compensation of Rs.1,08,500/-) before the concerning Claims Tribunal. 14) No order as to costs. ~ Sd/- Chief Justice Sd/- Sunil Kumar Sinha Judge shyna