FAO No. 158 of 1988 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 158 of 1988 Decided on : 08-12-2008 Satya Wati and others ....Appellants VERSUS Haryana State and others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mr. Tarundeep Kumar, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. O.P.Sharma, Addl. A.G., Haryana. MAHESH GROVER, J This appeal is directed against the award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Gurgaon dated 5.10.1987. In an accident which took place on 24.7.86, Durga Dass lost his life. He died on 27.7.86. The accident took place when the scooter being driven by the deceased was run over by the bus being driven by respondent no.3 and the bus belonged to Haryana Roadways. The Tribunal came to the conclusion that both the driver of the bus and the deceased were guilty of having caused the accident to the extent of 50% each. In so far income of the deceased was concerned, the deceased was an income tax payee and the Tribunal concluded that after his death, the shop was taken care by his son and there was no substantial loss in so far as the income of the family is concerned. The Tribunal assessed dependency at Rs. 800/- per month i.e. Rs.9600 per annum and multiplier of 8 was applied to arrive at the figure of Rs.76,800/- which was slashed by 50% on account of the finding of contributory negligence recorded by the Tribunal. In this manner, appellants were held entitled to a compensation of FAO No. 158 of 1988 2 Rs.38,400/-. Dis-satisfied with the award of the Tribunal, the appellants are in appeal. After hearing learned counsel for the appellants and perusing the award, I am of the considered opinion that award of the Tribunal deserves to be modified. The first question to be determined is whether the driver of the bus was at fault or the deceased or both of them. FIR was lodged with promptitude and in the FIR it was stated that bus was at fast speed, however, driver of the bus denied the said fact and stated that he was informed by the passengers of the bus that the deceased was run over by his bus. There were skid marks on the road implying thereby that the bus was at a fast speed. At the same time, there was evidence to show that the deceased was not driving at the left hand side of the road. There is, thus, element of some contribution to the accident by the deceased also. Moreover, it was also noticed that the bus was taking a turn on the round about and was expected to slow down but apparently it was at a fast speed. Therefore, it took a wider turn and as a result of which, left side of the bus was struck against the deceased who was run over under the rear wheel of the bus. Great care and caution is expected of the driver of the heavy vehicle especially when it is crossing or turning around a round about. In this view of the matter, contributory negligence attributed to the driver of the bus is held to be 90% and to the deceased is 10% and the finding of the Tribunal on the issue of negligence is modified to that extent. In so far as the quantum of compensation is concerned it was claimed by the appellants that the deceased was earning about Rs.2500/- per FAO No. 158 of 1988 3 month and he was also assessed to income tax. Even though the shop was being looked after by the son of the deceased yet the loss of the appellants cannot be determined as Rs.800/- per month and it would be safe to assess the income of the deceased as Rs.1500/- per month. Deduction of 1/3rd on account of personal expenses would be just and appropriate and accordingly the dependency comes to Rs. 1000/- per month i.e. Rs.12000/- per annum. Deceased was aged 59 years. Therefore, the multiplier of 8 which has been applied by the Tribunal is just and adequate. In this manner, compensation comes to Rs. 96,000/-. In view of the contributory negligence attributed to the deceased to the extent of 10%, compensation comes to Rs. 86,400/- (90% of 96,000 = 86,400/-) which is awarded to the appellants. An amount of Rs.10,000/- on account of funeral expenses and another sum of Rs.10,000/- on account of loss of estate etc. are also awarded. In this manner, total compensation comes to Rs. 1,06,400/-. The enhanced amount of compensation shall be paid alongwith interest at the rate of 9 % per annum from the date of filing of petition till the date of its realisation. The liability to pay the amount shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. The appeal stands disposed of in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal is modified accordingly. December 8 , 2008 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge