'^ HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR € 'BLE SHR1 RAJEEV GUPTA, CJ, 1. Balichand Batra, S/o Hazarimal, Age about 45 years, 2. Smt. Satibai, W/o Shri Balichand, Age about 38 years, 3. Ku. Monica Batra, D/o Balichand, Ageabout 16years, 4. Chandra Kumar, S/o Balichand Batra, Age about 9 years, (Appellant No. 3 & 4 minor through their Natural Guardian father i.e. Appeilant No.1) R/o Santra Dani Nagar, Dhamtari Road, Raipur, Tahsil - Distt: Raipur -^y r 3. Dihuram Gond @ Munna, S/o Suraram Gond, R/o Hadaband Mohdi, Tahsii - Distt: Raipur (C.G.) Driver of Scorpio C.G. 06 C/3600. Dilip Kaushik, S/o P. Kaushik, R/o Ayodhya Nagar, imii-bhata, Mahasamund, Tahsil - Distt: Raipur (C.G.) Owner of Scorpio C.G.-06 C/3600. New India Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd. Through its Divisionai Manager, Dlvisional Office, R.D.A. Buitding, Second Floor, Bajrang Market, Raipur (C.G.) ^' ^ Appeal Under Section 173 of the iVlotor Vehicle Act »l~. \-._ .- e Present: Shri Shivendu Pandya, learned counsel on behalf of Shri Yogesh Pandey, learned counsel for the appellants. 'x ;th The following order of the Court was passed by Rajeev Gupta, C.J, Shri Shivendu Pandya, learned counsel for the appellants is heard on admisslon. 2. This is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Eleventh Additlonal Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Raipur, (for short "The Tribunal), vide award dated 22-12-2007, passed in Claim Case No. 39/2007. 3, The claimants, unfortunate parents, sister and brother of deceased - Ravi Kumar, clalmed compensation of Rs. 19,50,0007- for his death in the motor accident on 21-02-2007, when his motorcycle bearing Registration No. CG-04-CB-402 was dashed by the offending vehicle - Scorpio bearing Registration No. CG-06- C-3600, resulting In multiple serious injuries to Ravi Kumai" who .succumbed to those injuries during the course of his treatment in the hospital. The claimants pleaded that deceased - Ravi Kumar used to earn Rs.7,000/- per month. 4. The Tribunal on the evidence led before it held that deceased - Ravi Kumar died on account ofthe injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 21-02-2007; the accident occurred due to-rash'and negligent driving of the driver of the offending s'. '-».. •V '.^)' \- vehicle - Scorpio; as the offending vehicle - Scorpio on the date of the accident was Insured with New India Insurance Company Limited, the Insurance Company was liable to pay compensation to the claimants. 5. The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.4,500/- per month. By deducting 1/3rd of Rs.4,500/- towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs.3,000/- per month and Rs.36,000/- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.36,000/- with the multiplier of 15, the compensation was worRed out to Rs.5,40,000/-. By awarding a further sum of Rs.20,000/- under other heads, the Tribunal awarded a total sum of Rs.5,60,000/- as compensation to the ciaimants for the death of deceased - Ravi Kumar in the motor accident. The Tribunal aiso awarded interest on the above amount of compensation of Rs.5,60,000/- @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of actua! payment. 6. Shri Shivendu Pandya, iearned counset for the appellants .vehemently argued that the Tribunal has erred in not accepting the claimants' evidence about the income of the deceased and in assessing his income at Rs.4,500/- per month. 7. True, the clalmants pleaded that deceased - Ravi Kumar used to earn Rs.5,000/- per month by working as Salesman in a Sare6 Shop known as Kishan Fabrics and in addition another Rs.2,000/- per month by repairing radio, television and mobite phones, but the evid^nce led by the ctaimants in that behalf was mmi f-f not of ciinching nature. The Tribunal, therefore, while assessing the income of the deceased discarded the claimants' evidence and assessed the income of the deceased at Rs.4,500/- per month on its own estimate. Learned counsel for the appeliants could not point out any such material which may disiodge the Tribunal's finding about the income ofthe deceased. 8. The multiplier of 15 selected by the Tribunal is rather on the higher side in view of the dictum of the Apex Court in the case of Munidpal Corporation ofGreater Bombay Vs. Laxman lyer andanother, reported in (2003) 8 SCC-731. 9. We, therefore, do not find any scope for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Tribuna!. 10. The appeai, therefore, is liable to be dismissed and is herebv dismissed^ymmarily. Sd/- Chief Justice Sd/- SunaKumarSiiiha Judge 'x -'•'I :si~.