FAO No.4960 of 2005 1 IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. FAO No.4960 of 2005 Date of decision: January 07, 2009 Jasveer Kaur and others ...Appellants Versus Pepsu Road Transport Corporation & others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. Amit Aggarwal, Advocate, for the appellants. Mr. Harsh Aggarwal, Advocate, for the respondents. Rajan Gupta, J. This appeal emanates from the award dated 19th April, 2005 of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bathinda whereby the appellants were granted a compensation of Rs.7,60,796/- on account of death of one Lachhman Singh in the accident which occurred on 1st June, 2004. On the ill-fated day i.e. on 1st June, 2004, Lachhman Singh, who was serving in defence forces, was coming from Laleana to Bathinda on motor cycle No.PB-51-4124 when a bus belonging to Pepsu Road Transport Corporation bearing No.PB-11-F-9690 came from the opposite side at high speed and struck against the motor cycle of Lachhman Singh. Lachhman Singh died in the unfortunate accident. His mother, widow and minor children preferred a claim petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Bathinda. The Tribunal after coming to a conclusion that the driver of the bus in question was FAO No.4960 of 2005 2 responsible for the accident as it was being driven rashly and negligently, awarded a total compensation of Rs.7,60,796/- to the appellants. I have heard learned counsel for the parties. Learned counsel for the appellants has confined his argument to the extent that the age of the deceased was 32 years and compensation should have been granted after applying a multiplier of 17. On the other hand, counsel for respondents No.1 & 2 has vehemently argued that adequate compensation has already been granted by the Tribunal and no case for enhancement thereof is made out. After hearing the counsel for the parties, I am of the considered view that the Tribunal took into consideration all the factors and correctly arrived at a figure of Rs.7,60,796/-. Admittedly, the deceased had a carry home salary of Rs.5413/-. The Tribunal proceeded with the presumption that out of this amount, the deceased must have been spending Rs.1500/- on himself, thus, dependency was assessed as Rs.3913/-. After applying a multiplier of 16, the Tribunal held that appellants were entitled to a sum of Rs.7,51,296/-. Apart from this, compensation in respect of funeral expenses, loss of consortium and loss of estate were also granted. These were quantified at Rs.9500/-. Thus, a total compensation of Rs.7,60,796/- was granted to the appellant. I am of the considered view that the award of the Tribunal FAO No.4960 of 2005 3 does not call for any interference as compensation has been granted after taking all the factors into consideration. The dependency has been correctly assessed and multiplier of 16 has also been correctly applied. In this view of the matter, no interference is called for in the impugned award of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bathinda. The appeal is hereby dismissed with no order as to costs. (RAJAN GUPTA) JUDGE January 7, 2009 'rajpal'