HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE N.R.L. NAGESWARA RAO M.A.C.M.A.No.2391 OF 2011 JUDGMENT: The appeal is filed by the appellants/petitioners against the order in O.P.No.579 of 2001 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal-cum- District Judge, Ongole, questioning the quantum of compensation. On 18.05.2011 the deceased Katragadda Suvarchala was travelling in the car bearing No.APP 4888 from Hyderabad to Vijayawada and when the car reached Mulapadu centre near Vijayawada, the lorry bearing No.AIL 5734 came in opposite direction and dashed against the car and at the same time the oil tanker bearing No.AP 9U 741 came from behind and dashed against the Car, as a result of which, the said Suvarchala received injuries and died. The claim was made against both the vehicles. The 1st petitioner is husband and petitioners Nos.2 to 4 are children of the deceased and they claimed a compensation of Rs.2,00,000/-. Respondents Nos.1 and 3 remained ex parte. The Insurance Companies i.e., respondents Nos.2 and 4 filed a counter denying the liability and also putting the cause of incident in their opposite vehicles. The earning capacity of the deceased and dependency are also disputed. The lower Tribunal taking into consideration the nature of the incident held that there was a contributory negligence and liability was also fixed on both the vehicles. The Insurance Company has not filed any appeal questioning the award. According to the claimants, the quantum of compensation fixed by the learned lower Tribunal is not proper. As can be seen from the award, the lower Tribunal has taken the income of the deceased only at Rs.750/- per month rejecting the claim of PW.1 that the deceased was running a Ladies Hostel in Kukatpally and earning Rs.10,000/- per month. Evidently, even for a labourer the minimum income has been fixed at Rs.1,500/- and when the deceased was a house wife and her contribution to the family cannot be ignored even if the children are grown up. Therefore, taking into consideration the above fact, I feel the ends of justice would meet if the income of the deceased is fixed at Rs.1,500/- per month and the contribution to the family is fixed at Rs.1,000/- per month and then the annual contribution comes to Rs.12,000/-. As per the Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court reported in Sarla Verma Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation[1], the multiplier that can be applied is ‘14’. Total dependency comes to Rs.1,68,000/-. The lower Tribunal has granted a sum of Rs.2,000/- towards funeral expenses and a sum of Rs.10,000/- towards loss of consortium, which appears to be reasonable. Therefore, the total compensation to which the petitioners are entitled to is Rs.1,80,000/-. The total amount shall carry interest shall be at 7.5%. Accordingly, the award of the lower tribunal is modified. In the result, the appeal is allowed in part. There shall be no order as to costs. _______________________________ JUSTICE N.R.L. NAGESWARA RAO Date:23.09.2011 INL [1] 2009 (6) SCALE 129