FAO No. 47 of 1995 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 47 of 1995 Date of decision 22.7.2011 State of Punjab and Another Appellants v. Tara Rani and Others. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. Amit Chaudhary,DAG,Punjab for the appellants .... JITENDRA CHAUHAN.J This appeal has been filed by the State against the Award dated 7.6.1994, passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal,Patiala (for short the Tribunal). Brief facts of the case are that on 22.9.1993, at 3 p.m. Hari Chand (deceased) boarded a bus bearing registration No. CH-01G 5349 from Chandigarh for Ambala. At about 4 p.m. the bus reached bus stand of village Singhpura,P.S.Derra Bassi. Some passengers started alighting from the bus. Hari Singh was sitting on the rear seat, on the right hand side of the bus. In the meantime, a bus belonging to Punjab Roadways , bearing registration No. PB 12 9707, (offending bus) came from behind. It was driven by Driver-Amar Singh, respondent No.3, at a high speed and in rash and negligent manner. The driver of the offending bus lost control of the speed and it struck against the stationery bus, as a result, the stationery bus rolled to a distance of 10/15 karams. Hari Chand and other passengers sustained injuries in this accident. Hari Chand was removed to the hospital, but on the way, he succumbed to his injuries. Hari Chand was tailor by profession and had been earning Rs. 4,000/- p. m. He FAO No. 47 of 1995 2 is survived by his wife and five minor children, who are the claimants in the present appeal. Amar Singh, respondent No.3, driver of the offending bus contested the claim petition. He denied having caused the accident or that he was driving the offending bus in rash and negligent manner. He denied the relationship of the deceased with the claimants and also controverted the allegations relating to the age, income and profession of deceased Hari Chand. The Tribunal after considering the evidence produced on record and examining the witnesses, came to the conclusion that the age of the deceased was 32 years the time of death. In the post mortem report Ex.DW3/A, the age was recorded as 32 years. There is no evidence in rebuttal to the age of the deceased. It was rightly held by the Tribunal that the accident was caused by driver Amar Singh, respondent No.3 while driving the offending bus in a rash and negligent manner. The income of the deceased was assessed at Rs. 2000/-p.m. ( Rs. 24,000 per annum) by applying the formula of dependency. The Tribunal has rightly applied the multiplier of 16 in the present case and calculated the total amount of compensation at Rs. 3,99,000 (including Rs. 15,000/- as amount of consortium) awarded to the claimants i.e the wife and five minor children of the deceased Hari Chand. In view of the above, no ground is made out to interfere in the Award dated 7.6.1994 passed by the Tribunal. The appeal of the State fails and is dismissed. 22.7.2011 (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) ms JUDGE FAO No. 47 of 1995 3