FAO No.1707 of 1992 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH 1. FAO No.1707 of 1992 DATE OF DECISION: January 28, 2011 RAM MURTI AND ORS. ...APPELLANTS VERSUS PARAM JIT SINGH AND ORS. ...RESPONDENTS 2. FAO No.1641 of 1992 MAMTA D/O SHAM SUNDER ...APPELLANT VERSUS PARAMJIT SINGH AND ORS. ...RESPONDENTS 3. FAO No.1642 of 1992 SHAM SUNDER ...APPELLANT VERSUS PARAMJIT SINGH AND ORS. ...RESPONDENTS CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN. 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgement. No 2. To be referred to the reporters or not? No 3. Whether the judgement should be reported in the digest? Yes ---- PRESENT: MR. JAGDISH MANCHANDA, ADVOCATE FOR THE APPELLANTS. NONE FOR RESPONDENTS NO.1 TO 3. MR. NEERAJ KHANNA, ADVOCATE FOR RESPONDENT NO.4. K.KANNAN, J.(ORAL) 1. All the appeals arise out of the same accident and they advert to the issue of enhancement of respective claims. FAO No.1707 of 1992 -2- 2. FAO No.1707 of 1992 relates to death of a school Teacher aged 52 years working in the Government High School in Chandigarh. The claimants were widow and four minor children. He was said to be earning `3693/- and the Tribunal had taken the dependency at `2000/- and determined the compensation of `1,44,000/-. 3. Learned counsel appearing for the appellants seeks for reappraisal for the awards on a decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma vs. DTC, reported as 2009 6 SCC 121. I would provide for a 1/4th deduction instead of 1/3rd and take the contribution to the family as `2769.75. The Tribunal had adopted a multiplier of 6 and I will take a multiplier of 11 and find the loss of dependency at `3,65,607/-. The Tribunal has awarded `3000/- for transport and cremation expenses which I will retain. I would make an additional amount of `5000/- towards loss to estate and provide for a further sum of `5000/- for loss of consortium to the wife and `2500/- to each of the minor children. The total amount of compensation will be `3,88,607/- rounded of to `3,88,600/-. The amount in excess over what has already been awarded by the Tribunal shall attract interest @ 6% from the date of petition till the date of payment. The additional amount of compensation shall be distributed equally amongst all the claimants. The liability shall be in the same manner as determined by the Tribunal. 4. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. 5. FAO No.1641 of 1992 is for enhancement of claim for the injuries suffered by a girl aged 12 years who had suffered two fractures and shortening of leg by an inch. She was said to have been hospitalized for 2/3 FAO No.1707 of 1992 -3- months and the Doctor who had treated her had certified a disability to be permanent and that it was 22%, due to shortening of her left leg. The Tribunal awarded `30,000/- for the disability case and awarded `20,000/- for pain and suffering and medical expenses. For a shortening of leg limp which will persist for the girl right through her life, I would provide an additional amount of `10,000/- towards loss of prospects of marriage and cosmetic value. This amount shall bear interest @ 6% from the date of petition till the date of payment. The liability shall be in the same manner as determined by the Tribunal. 6. The appeal stands allowed to the above extent. 7. FAO No.1642 of 1992 is for enhancement of claim for the death of a housewife, aged 40 years and the claimants were husband and three children. The Tribunal referred to decisions rendered by this Court in Hem Chander vs. Ram Kishore, reported as 1990 ACJ 970 and Kaushal Pal Singh vs. Nirmal Singh, reported as 1989 ACJ 6 to hold that compensation amount of `56,000/- would be appropriate. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant refers to a Division Bench ruling of this Court at about the same time where the householder services were estimated to be not less than 1000/- per month. I would take that to be the contribution to the family and would adopt a multiplier of 15 and take the loss to be at `1,80,000/-. I would provide an additional amount of `5000/- towards loss of consortium and further provision of `2500/- towards funeral expenses. I would also provide for loss of love and affection to each one of the children at `2500/- and provide an additional amount of `7500/- and the total compensation payable will be 1,97,500/-. The additional amount shall be distributed amongst the claimants equally. The liability shall be in the same manner as FAO No.1707 of 1992 -4- determined by the Tribunal. 8. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. January 28, 2011 (K.KANNAN) Gulati JUDGE