THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED M.A.C.M.A. No.1174 of 2005 ORDER: This appeal by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (A.P.S.R.T.C.) is directed against the judgment dated 22.02.2005 passed by the learned V Additional District Judge, Fast Track Court-cum-Motor Vehicle Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kurnool, in M.V.O.P.No.10 of 2004, whereby the claim petition of the respondents herein was allowed by awarding compensation of Rs.2,19,000/-. Brief facts of the case are that on 23.08.2003 at 12.30 p.m., when one B. Nettekalu was proceeding along with his brother-in-law on the extreme left side of the road near Railway gate at Dhone, an A.P.S.R.T.C. bus bearing No.AP 10 Z 4536 came with high speed driven in a rash and negligent manner and dashed against the said Nettekalu, due to which he fell down and the bus ran over his body. He was shifted to hospital but he was found dead. Therefore, the wife and son of the deceased filed the claim petition before the Tribunal claiming compensation of Rs.3,00,000/- for the death of the deceased. To prove their claim, the claimants examined P.Ws.1 to 3 and marked Exs.A-1 to A5 i.e., F.I.R. in Crime No.171 of 2003, inquest report, postmortem certificate, Motor Vehicle Inspector’s report and charge sheet in the crime. The A.P.S.R.T.C. also examined the conductor of the bus as R.W.1 and no documents were marked. The Tribunal, after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the evidence on record, observed that the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the driver of the bus and because of the accident only, the deceased died and the claimants are entitled for compensation. Since the deceased was hale and healthy and aged below 40 years and was doing the work of selling the fruits, the Tribunal has taken his earnings at Rs.50/- per day and after deducting 1/3rd of his earnings towards self contribution, arrived at Rs.1,000/- per month towards contribution to the family, which comes to Rs.12,000/- per annum. Considering the age of the deceased, the Tribunal applied the multiplier of ‘16’ as per Schedule II. Accordingly, a sum of Rs.1,92,000/- was arrived towards loss of dependency. The Tribunal awarded further sums of Rs.15,000/- towards consortium, Rs.2,000/- towards funeral expenses and Rs.10,000/- towards loss of estate and love and affection, in total the Tribunal awarded a compensation of Rs.2,19,000/- with proportionate costs and interest at 9% per annum from the date of petition till realization. A perusal of the judgment of the Tribunal shows that the Tribunal considered all aspects in a detailed and proper manner. Therefore, I do not see any infirmity in the judgment of the Tribunal while awarding compensation as referred to above. However, as rightly pointed out by the learned counsel for the appellant – A.P.S.R.T.C., in view of the catena of decisions of the Apex Court, interest awarded by the Tribunal has to be reduced to 7% per annum. Accordingly, the M.A.C.M.A. is partly allowed reducing the interest awarded by the Tribunal from 9% to 7% per annum. In all other respects, the judgment of the Tribunal shall remain intact. No costs. _______________________ GHULAM MOHAMMED, J 29th July, 2010 GHN