FAO No. 1917 of 1998 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH 1. FAO No. 1917 of 1998 Rajinder Kaur and others ....Appellants VERSUS Pepsu Road Transport Corporation and others ....Respondents 2. FAO No. 1919 of 1998 Harjit Kaur and others. ...Appellants. VERSUS Pepsu Road Transport Corporation and others. ....Respondents. 3. FAO No. 2628 of 1998 Kulbir Singh and others ....Appellants VERSUS Baba Sheesha Singh and others ....Respondents. Decided on : 01-10-2008 CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mrs. Jatinder Kaur, Advocate for the appellants in FAO Nos. 1917 and 1919 of 1998 Mr. R.S.Aulakh, Advocate for the appellants in FAO No. 2628 of 1998. Mr. Mrigank Sharma, Advocate for Mrs. V.A.Talwar, Advocate for respondent no.4 FAO No. 1917 of 1998 2 MAHESH GROVER, J This order will dispose of three appeals bearing FAO Nos. 1917, 2628 and 1919 of 1998. These appeals are by the claimants directed against the award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal dated 17.4.1996. In FAO No. 1917 of 1998, claimants are widow and three minor children of deceased Ajit Singh who died in an accident which took place on 10.3.1993. He was aged 40 years. It was claimed that he was an agriculturist and doing dairy business and was earning substantial amount but the Tribunal assessed him as a labourer and assessed his income as Rs. 1500/- per month. 1/3rd was deducted on account of personal expenses to come at dependency as Rs. 1000/- per month. Multiplier of 13 was applied to arrive at a compensation of Rs. 1,56,000/- and this amount was apportioned amongst the claimants in the following terms:- 1. Wife Rs. 90,000/- 2. Three minor children Rs. 22,000/- each. The aforesaid amount was directed to be paid at the interest of 12% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till the date of its realisation. Dis-satisfied with the award, the claimants are in appeal. No one appears for respondent no.1 and 2 upon whom the liability to satisfy the award has been fastened by the Tribunal. I have heard the learned counsel for the appellants and have perused the record. In the considered opinion of this Court, the amount awarded is inadequate. The accident took place in the year 1993. Even if there was no FAO No. 1917 of 1998 3 conclusive proof of evidence, deceased was to be assessed as a labourer, then, even a labourer would be earning something between Rs. 2000/- to Rs. 2500/- per month, but considering the fact that regular employment would not be available to him, it is safe to assess the income of the deceased as Rs. 2200/- per month. He is survived by his widow and three children. Therefore, the amount for personal expenses which ought to be deducted in the given set of circumstances should be 1/4th. In this manner, dependency comes to Rs. 1650/- per month i.e. Rs. 19800/- per annum. Multiplier of 13 which is applied by the Tribunal is inadequate and therefore, multiplier of 16 which is prescribed in the Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 which is the guiding factor would suffice. In this manner, compensation comes to Rs. 3,16,800/-. An amount of Rs. 20,000/- is awarded on account of funeral expenses and loss of consortium. Therefore, total compensation comes to Rs. 3,36,800/- 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 appeal stands allowed in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal be modified accordingly. The liability to pay the amount shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. In FAO No. 1919 of 1998 deceased namely Gurmeet Singh died in the same accident which took place on 10.3.93. Claimants are his widow, two minor children, his mother and father. He was assessed as labourer and his income was assessed as Rs. 1500/- per month and Rs. 500/- was deducted on account of personal expenses meaning thereby that dependency FAO No. 1917 of 1998 4 was assessed as Rs. 1000/- per month. Multiplier of 12 was applied to arrive at the compensation of Rs. 1,44,000/- out of which Rs. 80,000/- was awarded to the widow, Rs. 25000/- each to both the minor children and Rs. 14,000/- to mother of the deceased. Dis-satisfied with the aforesaid award, the claimants are in appeal. After considering the matter in its entirety, I am of the considered opinion that the amount awarded by the Tribunal is inadequate. The deceased even if assessed as a labourer would be earning Rs. 2200/- per month on the logic which has been expressed in FAO No. 1917 of 1998. He was survived by number of dependents, therefore, deduction of 1/4th on account of personal expenses would be just and adequate. In this manner, dependency comes to Rs. 1650/- per month i.e. Rs. 19800/- per annum. Multiplier of 13 which is applied by the Tribunal is inadequate and therefore, multiplier of 16 which is prescribed in the Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 which is the guiding factor is suffice. In this manner, compensation comes to Rs. 3,16,800/-. An amount of Rs. 20,000/- is awarded on account of funeral expenses and loss of consortium. Therefore, total compensation comes to Rs. 3,36,800/- 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 appeal stands allowed in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal be modified accordingly. The liability to pay the amount shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. In FAO No. 2628 of 1998, deceased namely Gurdev Kaur aged 54 FAO No. 1917 of 1998 5 years died in the same accident which took place on 10.3.93. Claimants are her children. In all there are five claimants and deceased was aged 54 years. Tribunal applied a multiplier of 9 while assessing the notional income of the deceased as Rs. 500/- and awarded a compensation of Rs. 54,000/- alongwith interest at the rate of 12 % per annum. After hearing learned counsel for the appellants and perusing the award, I am of the considered opinion that the amount awarded is inadequate. The deceased was a housewife. According to decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in case titled as 'Lata Wadhwa & Ors. Versus State of Bihar & Ors' 2001 (8) SCC 197 income of the lady who is housewife can be assessed as Rs. 3000/- per month by treating it as her notional income. 1/3rd is deducted on account of her personal expenses. Dependency in this manner comes to Rs. 2000/- per month i.e. Rs. 24000/- per annum. Multiplier of 11 is just and adequate and in this way, compensation comes to Rs. 2,64,000/-. An amount of Rs. 10,000/- each is awarded on account of funeral expenses and loss of love & affection. Therefore, the total compensation comes to Rs. 2,84,000/-. 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 appeal stands allowed in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal be modified accordingly. The liability to pay the amount shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. October 1, 2008 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge