THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P. SWAROOP REDDY C.M.A.No.3470 OF 2004 JUDGMENT: This civil miscellaneous appeal is filed by A.P.S.R.T.C. the respondent in O.P.No.892 of 2002 on the file of the III Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Warangal, against the award dated 27.04.2004. 2. Heard. 3. The brief facts are as follows: The claimants are the parents of the deceased, who died in a motor vehicle accident on 26.06.2002. He was II year student of engineering. On 26.06.2002, while the deceased was going on a motorcycle, he met with an accident with RTC bus. The claimants claimed compensation of Rs.6.00 lakhs. A.P.S.R.T.C. filed counter contending that the accident has taken place on account of the negligence of the deceased, who was going in a zigzag manner on the road and in spite of the bus being reduced its speed to very slow, the deceased himself caused the accident. On the basis of above pleadings, the following issues were framed. 1. Whether the accident occurred on 26.06.2002 due to rash and negligent driving of APSRTC bus bearing No.AP 9Z 591 driven by its driver, as per S.166 of M.V.Act? 2. Whether the petitioners are entitled to compensation? If so, to what amount and from whom? 3. To what relief? On behalf of the petitioners, P.Ws.1 and 2 were examined and Exs.A1 to A7 were marked. On behalf of the respondent, R.W.1 the driver of the bus was examined. On the basis of the material on record, the court below awarded total compensation of Rs.6.00 lakhs as claimed. Aggrieved by the same, the present appeal is filed. 4. The main contention of the learned counsel for the appellant now is that the deceased was only a student of II year engineering, as such, the amount of Rs.6.00 lakhs awarded is very high and that he was not at all earning anything and the court below erred in assessing his income at Rs.10,000/- per month and in applying multiplier ‘10’ depending on the age of the mother of the deceased. 5. Learned counsel for the respondents-claimants contends that the court below in fact has applied lesser multiplier and has taken the income of the deceased also at a lower rate. He relied on a decision of the Division Bench of our High Court in “B.RAMULAMMA v.VENKATESH BUS UNION, LINGARAJAPURAM, BANGALORE”[1], wherein it is held that in case of students of engineering, income can be taken at Rs.12,000/- per month etc. 6. Now, the only point that arises for consideration is as to whether the compensation awarded is on higher side? 7. There is no dispute that at the time of accident, the deceased was a student of II year engineering and he was riding motorbike, which would show that he hails from a family of at least moderate income group that can afford to spend reasonable money. 8. The question is what income has to be taken into consideration in a case of this nature, where the deceased was unmarried and a student of II year engineering. The Division Bench of our high court in Ramulamma Vs.Venkatesh Bus Union case (stated supra) held that in such cases, the income of the deceased, who is a B.E. Graduate student, can be put at Rs.12,000/-per month. In case of I, II and III year engineering students, it can be reduced by 10% per one lesser year. That means, in case of a student studying II year engineering, it can be taken at around Rs.8,000/- at least. If income of the deceased is taken at Rs.8,000/- per month and if 50% is deducted towards personal expenses as the deceased was a bachelor, the total contribution to the family comes to Rs.4,000/- per month and the annual contribution comes to Rs.48,000/-. If multiplier ‘11’ is applied, even assuming the age of the mother of the deceased as 41 years, it comes to Rs.5,28,000/- and another amount of Rs.22,000/- can be awarded towards other heads. Thus, the total compensation that can be awarded is Rs.5,50,000/- only. 6. Accordingly, the C.M.A. is partly allowed reducing the compensation awarded by the court below from Rs.6,00,000/- to Rs.5,50,000/-. No order as to costs. The rate of interest is reduced from 9% per annum to 6% per annum. ______________________ P. SWAROOP REDDY, J. 21st October 2010, Rns [1] 2009(6) ALD 684(DB)