FAO No.3509 of 2010 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.3509 of 2010 Date of Decision : 07.09.2011 Smt. Raj Bala and others .......Appellants Versus Ram Mehar and others .......Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. N.S. Panwar, Advocate, for the appellants. Mr. Pankaj Mehta, Advocate, for respondent Nos.1 and 2. Mr. Gopal Mittal, Advocate, for respondent No.3. **** JITENDRA CHAUHAN, J. (ORAL) CM No. 15583-CII of 2011 For the reasons mentioned in the application, delay of 456 days in filing the present appeal is allowed. Application stands disposed of accordingly. FAO No. 3509 of 2011 The claimants-appellants are in appeal assailing the impugned Award dated 08.05.2007, passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Sonepat, seeking enhancement of the compensation amount awarded by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Sonepat (For short 1 FAO No.3509 of 2010 'the Tribunal') on account of the death of Dalbir Singh, in a road accident which took place on 6.3.2007. Heard. A perusal of the impugned Award would reveal that the learned Tribunal has assessed the age of the deceased as 40-42 years at the time of his death in the road accident. The number of claimants i.e., the wife, three minor children and the widowed mother, is five. The learned Tribunal has deducted 1/3rd out of the income of the deceased on account of his personal expenses. However, in view of the law laid down by Hon’ble the Apex Court in Sarla Verma Vs. DTC, (2009) 6 SCC 121, the deduction ought to have been 1/4th instead of 1/3rd. I order accordingly. It is further observed that the learned Tribunal has granted compensation of `5,000/- against the head ‘loss of consortium’, which appears to be inadequate. Accordingly, another amount of `5,000/- is granted under this head, over and above the amount already granted by the learned Tribunal. The award against the other heads is just and adequate. The enhanced amount of compensation shall be paid within 45 days. If the amount so enhanced is not paid within the stipulated period, the appellants shall be entitled to interest at the rate of 7.5% p.a. from the date of filing the present appeal till its payment. Accordingly, the present appeal is partly allowed and the award of the learned Tribunal is modified to the extent indicated above. ( JITENDRA CHAUHAN ) 07.09.2011 JUDGE atulsethi Note: Whether to be referred to reporter ? Yes/No 2