IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH ... FAO No.1787 of 2008 (O&M) Decided on : August 28, 2009 Smt.Geeta and others ... Appellants VERSUS Ompal and another ... Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE A.N.JINDAL Present: Mr.Sanjay Vashisth, Advocate for the appellants. Mr.Pardeep Goyal, Advocate for respondent - Oriental Insurance Company. A.N.JINDAL, J.- CM No.11575-76-CII of 2008 : Allowed. Delay condoned. FAO NO.1787 of 2008 : This appeal is directed against the award dated 11.4.2007 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Faridabad, whereby, the claimants – appellants (herein referred as the claimants) were awarded Rs.3,10,759/- on account of the death of Ram Babu, aged 35 years, a meson by profession in a motor vehicle accident. Neither the negligence, nor the liability has been questioned by the respondent – Insurance Company. The claimants have prayed for enhancement. It is contended that there were five dependents of the deceased Ram Babu, who was aged about 35 years and a skilled labour being a meson. The Tribunal did not assess the proper income and also did not apply the proper multiplier. As per the decision of the Apex Court in case Smt.Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another , 2009(3) RCR(Civil) 77, if a person dies at the age of 35 years, multiplier of 16 is appropriate to be applied in such a case. It is also a matter of common experience that even a daily wager, now a days, does not earn less than Rs.3000/- per month, therefore, the Tribunal fell in error while assessing Rs.2500/- as income of the deceased, which needs to be modified. Assessing the monthly income of the deceased at Rs.3000/- and deducting Rs.800/- as self-dependency, the net dependency comes to Rs.2200/- per month i.e. Rs.26,400/- per annum, which after applying the multiplier of 16, comes to Rs.4,22,400/-. Hence, the appeal is partly allowed. The claimants are held entitled to Rs.4,22,400/- apart from Rs.15,000/- on account of funeral expenses as also the loss of consortium. August 28, 2009 ( A.N.JINDAL ) `gian' JUDGE