FAO No.598 of 1989 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.598 of 1989 DATE OF DECISION: February 16, 2011 KAMLA DEVI AND OTHERS ...APPELLANTS VERSUS JAGTAR SINGH AND OTHERS ...RESPONDENTS CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN. 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgement? No 2. To be referred to the reporters or not? No 3. Whether the judgement should be reported in the digest? No ---- PRESENT: MR. I.P.S. DOBIA, ADVOCATE FOR THE APPELLANT. NONE FOR RESPONDENT NO.1 AND 2. MR. R.M. SURI, ADVOCATE FOR RESPONDENT NO.3. K.KANNAN, J.(ORAL) 1. The appeal is for enhancement of claim for compensation for death of a person who was earning his living by driving a taxi car. It was in evidence that he had taken a loan of `50,000/- from a bank and he had repaid the `64,000/- in 2½ years which worked out close to `28,000/- per year. The attempt was, therefore, to show that he had earned sufficient income to repay the loan fully and make a decent living to support his family of wife and 4 children. The wife had given evidence to the effect that he used to give `100/- per day. The Tribunal, however, assessed the income at `1000/-, provided for 1/3rd deduction for personal expenses and determined a compensation by applying a multiplier of 16. 2. Learned counsel states that the assessment of income at `1000/- FAO No.598 of 1989 -2- is grossly inadequate. I am of the view that estimation by the Tribunal was inadequate and the fact that he had been able to repay the loan obtained from the bank and that he had repaid the amount of `64,000/- brought through a record must be taken as even a basis for taking that he was earning not less than `3000/- per month. I will make a reappraisal of the compensation in the light of decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma vs. DTC, reported as 2009 6 SCC 121 and tabulate the compensation as payable as follows by providing for appropriate multiplier suitable to the age and deduction dependent on the number of persons whom he had to support. I have also provided for conventional heads of claim in the tabulation:- Fatal Accidents Age: 40 Occupation Taxi Driver Claimants Wife, 4 children Heads of Claim Tribunal High Court Sr.No. Amount ` Amount ` 1. Annual Income 1000 3000 2. Add % of increase 30%/50% Nil - 3. Deduction (1/2,1/3, 1/4, 1/5) 1/3 1/4 4. Multiplicand 8000 2250x12 5. Multiplier 16 14 6. Loss of Dependence 3,78,000 7. Medical Expenses 8. Loss of Consortium + loss of love and affection 15,000 9. Loss to Estate 2500 10. Funeral Expenses 2000 Total 1,28,000 /- 3,97,500/- 3. The amount in excess over what has been determined by the Tribunal shall attract interest @ 6% from the date of petition till the date of FAO No.598 of 1989 -3- payment. The amount shall be distributed equally amongst all the claimants. 4. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. February 16, 2011 (K.KANNAN) Gulati JUDGE