FAO No. 1689 of 2000 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH FAO No. 1689 of 2000 Date of decision April 5, 2011 Babli ....... Appellant Versus Sulakhan Singh and others ........Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN Present:- Ms. Sonal Dutt, Advocate for Mr. V. M. Gupta, Advocate for the appellant. None for respondent Nos. 1,3 and 4. Mr. Paul S Saini, Advocate for respondent No.2. **** 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest? K. Kannan, J (oral). 1. The appeal is for enhancement of claim for compensation for death of a male aged 28 years. The claimants were widow and mother. The deceased was said to be a fruit vendor and also a property dealer. The evidence was that the deceased used to earn `5,000/- per month. The Tribunal, however, took the income to be `1500/- and adopted a multiplier of 16. Learned counsel states that even a daily labourer gets about `3,000/- per month and therefore the assessment of income ought not to have been made as low as `1500/- per month. I FAO No. 1689 of 2000 2 cannot take this to be a general proposition that in all cases the income must be provided at `3,000/- per month even in the absence of any documentary evidence. Schedule-II provides for minimum income at `15000/- per annum and the Tribunal took the income at `18000/-. No better materials are placed before the Court to enhance the compensation and therefore, I would retain the same. However, in the choice of multiplier, I would provide the same as provided in Schedule-II and also provide for conventional heads of claim as contemplated in Schedule-II. Age Occupation 28 Claimants Widow, 2 daughters, parents S.No. Heads of Claim Tribunal High Court 1 Income `1500/- `1500/- 2 Deduction 1/3rd 3 Multiplicand `12,000/- 4 Multiplier 16 18 5 Loss to consortium `5,000/- 6 Loss to estate `2,500/- 7 Funeral expenses `2,000/- Total `1,92,000/- `2,25,500/- 2. The amount in excess of what has been awarded by the Tribunal shall carry interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of petition till the date of payment. The additional compensation shall be paid to the widow only. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE April 5, 2011 archana