FAO No.5688 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.5688 of 2010 ( In MACT No. 161 of 2007) Date of decision: 9.11.2011 Guddi ...Appellant Versus Gurpreet Singh and another ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mrs.Ekta Thakur, Advocate for the appellant. Mr.Ravinder Arora, Advocate for respondent No.2-Insurance Company **** Jitendra Chauhan, J. (Oral) The present appeal has been filed by the appellants- claimants seeking enhancement of the compensation amount awarded by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jind (for short 'the Tribunal') vide award dated 21.2.2009, on account of the death of Bunty, son of the appellant, who died in a motor vehicular accident, which took place on 21.7.2007. Learned counsel for the appellant contends that the deceased was a student of 10th Class. The appellant, mother of the deceased, is a widow. The deceased was the only son of the appellant. He was helping his widowed mother in her domestic work. The learned Tribunal has assessed his income as `15000/- per annum, which is inadequate. He further contends that the learned Tribunal without taking into consideration the age of the widowed mother of the deceased, applied the multiplier of 10, which is inadequate and the same should be enhanced. FAO No.5688 of 2010 2 Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondent- Insurance Company has contended that the learned Tribunal has rightly awarded the compensation and there is no scope of any enhancement. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record carefully. From the perusal of the record, it reveals that the death of Bunty, son of the appellant occurred in a motor vehicular accident. It is also proved on record that the deceased was 17 years of age at the time of his death and he was a student of 10th Class. The learned Tribunal has not considered his future prospects and awarded a sum of ` 2 lacs, which is inadequate. The untimely death of the only son was a great shock to the widowed mother. Therefore, keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the deceased is to be considered as a skilled worker. In the Notification dated 27.6.2007, issued by the Labour Department, Haryana Government under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the minimum wages prescribed under the category of Skilled 'A' is `4030/- per month. It is further averred that the deceased was unmarried at the time of his death. Therefore, as per the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Smt. Sarla Verma and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2009(3) RCR (Civil) 77, the dependency should be assessed as 50% in case the deceased is a bachelor. Further it is proved on record that age of the widowed mother of the deceased was 35 years and as per Smt.Sarla Verma's case, the multiplier of 16 instead of 10 should have been applied. Ordered accordingly. No other point has been urged or agitated by either counsel. FAO No.5688 of 2010 3 In view of the above, the total compensation on account of loss of dependency comes to `4,36,880/- (4030 x 1/2 x 12 x 16 + 50,000 ( already awarded under conventional heads). The balance amount i.e. `2,36,880/- (3,86,880 -2,00,000, already awarded by the learned Tribunal) shall be paid to the appellant in the manner indicated in the impugned award within 45 days from the date of receipt of the certified copy of the judgment, failing which, the same shall carry interest @7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the appeal, till its realisation. In view of the above, the present appeal is partly allowed with the modification indicated above. 9.11.2011 (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) gsv JUDGE