FAO No. 3944 of 2009 -1- In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh FAO No. 3944 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 11.2.2010 Rahul Kumar ... Appellant vs Bakhshish Singh and others .... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. Sushil Saini, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. R. M. Suri, Advocate, for the Insurance company. Rajesh Bindal J. Challenge in the present appeal is to the award of the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Amritsar (hereinafter to be referred as “the Tribunal”), only on the ground that the multiplier applied by the Tribunal considering the age of the deceased is not correct. The brief facts of the case are that on 22.7.2008 at 11.00 p.m., Bimla Devi along with some other persons was going in a hired vehicle bearing No. PB- 02-AN-5439 from Amritsar to Chintpurni. When they reached at Chowk Mehta, Canter No. PB-29-E-9895, driven by respondent no. 1 in a rash and negligent manner, struck against the vehicle. As a result of the accident, Bimla Devi and many other persons received multiple injuries and they were taken to Civil Hospital, Amritsar. She was thereafter referred to Guru Nank Dev Hospital, Amritsar, where she succumbed to her injuries on 23.7.2008. The petition filed by the claimant was allowed by the learned Tribunal and considering the monthly loss to the deceased as Rs. 2,000/- per month, compensation of Rs. 2,40,000/- was awarded. However, still dissatisfied with the award, the claimant filed the present appeal. Learned counsel for the appellants raised only one argument that considering the age of the deceased in the present case as 50 years, learned Tribunal has not applied correct multiplier which should have been 12 and not 10 as adopted. In support his contention, he relied upon judgment of Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Sarla Verma (Smt.) and others vs Delhi Transport Corporation and another 2009 (6) SCC 121. Learned counsel for the Insurance company could not dispute the proposition of law laid down by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in the aforesaid case. FAO No. 3944 of 2009 -2- The income assessed by the learned Tribunal is not disputed by either of the parties. It is only the application of multiplier which is in dispute in the present appeal. In view of the law laid in the aforesaid judgment, the award of the Tribunal is modified to the extent that as against 10 applied as multiplier by the Tribunal, considering the age of the deceased at the time of death, the multiplier of 12 is applied, on the dependency of the deceased as has been assessed by the Tribunal which is not in dispute, and the amount of compensation is assessed at Rs. 2,88,000/- as against Rs. 2,40,000/-. The claimants shall be entitled interest @ 6% on the enhanced compensation from the date of filing of claim petition till realisation. The appeal is disposed of in the above terms. 11.2.2010 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge