FAO No.2113 of 1999 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.2113 of 1999 DATE OF DECISION: February 24, 2011 GURMIT KAUR ...APPELLANT VERSUS KULAR SINGH AND ANOTHER ...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. R.S. BUDHWAR, ADVOCATE FOR MR. S.P. LALER, ADVOCATE FOR THE APPELLANT. NONE FOR RESPONDENT NO.1. MR. VIVEK SINGAL, ADVOCATE FOR MR. RAVINDER ARORA, ADVOCATE FOR RESPONDENT NO.2. K.KANNAN, J.(ORAL) 1. The appeal is for enhancement of claim of compensation for death of a child aged 4 years to whom a compensation of `60,000/- had been awarded. The Tribunal had already found the negligence against the driver of the vehicle as having been established. 2. It is always difficult to assess the compensation for death of a child for, the assessment will have to be on a projection of the expectations of the parents as regards the child's likely contribution if he had grown up. This shall be done on the basis of the economic and social status of the parties. We have come by decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Lata Wadhwa vs. State of Bihar, 2001 (8) SCC 197 and M.S. Aggarwal vs. FAO No.2113 of 1999 -2- Deepchand Sood 2001 (8) SCC 151 as well as the decision in R.K. Malik vs. Kiranpal (SC), reported in 2009 3 RCR (Civil) 403 that held that in respect of petitions for compensation arising out of death of children, in addition to awarding compensation for pecuniary loss, compensation must also be granted with reference to the future prospects of children and in case there was no yardstick to measure the future prospects, the place where the children study could also be taken to determine what the expectations of the parents could have been. Here for a 4 year old child, I would hold that the compensation of `2.25 lacs would have been appropriate. 3. The amount in excess over what has already been awarded by the Tribunal shall attract interest @ 6% from the date this judgement and not from the date of the award, having regard to the fact that judicial dispensation in providing for compensation in excess of `2 lacs is a recent occurrence and the payment of interest should, therefore, be only from the date of this order. 4. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. February 24, 2011 (K.KANNAN) Gulati JUDGE