IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O. No. 1087 of 2009 Date of Decision : March 02, 2009 New India Assurance Company, The Mall, Ludhiana ....Appellant Versus Mohan Lal and others .....Respondents CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE T.P.S. MANN Present : Ms. Puneeta Sethi, Advocate T.P.S. MANN, J. On account of death of Devinder Singh Walia in a motor vehicular accident, which according to the claimants took place on 13.3.2007 on account of rash and negligent driving of bus bearing registration No. PB-01-4640 by Mohan Lal, a claim petition was preferred by the claimants wherein they prayed for the grant of compensation to them. Vide judgement dated 23.8.2008, learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Fast Track Court, Ludhiana allowed the claim petition with costs and directed Mohan Lal, driver of the bus, Om Parkash Juneja, owner of the bus and New India Assurance Company, with which the bus in question stood insured, to pay a sum of Rs.8,96,000/- to the claimants as compensation along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of the claim petition till the actual realisation. The liability of all the respondents was declared joint and F.A.O. No. 1087 of 2009 -2- several. Aggrieved of the same, the Insurance Company has filed the present appeal. Counsel for the appellant has submitted that the accident in question took place entirely due to negligence of the deceased himself and, therefore, the claimants were not entitled to the grant of any compensation. To establish that it was Mohan Lal, driver of the bus, who was driving the bus in a rash and negligent manner and by coming to the wrong side of the road, he hit the bus against the car of Devinder Singh Walia as a result of which said Devinder Singh Walia received multiple injuries on his body which ultimately proved fatal, the claimants examined PW1 Maninder Singh and PW3 Balwinder Singh. Maninder Singh testified before the learned Tribunal that the deceased along with his friend Vijay Kurmi was proceeding in his car bearing registration No. PB-25A-0999 and when he reached near Four Seasons Resorts and Marriage Palace near village Fattuwal on G.T. Road, then a bus bearing registration No. PB-01-4640 came from the opposite side. At that time the bus was being driven rashly and negligently by its driver. The bus came to the wrong side of the road and hit the car which the deceased was driving. On the similar lines was the deposition of Balwinder Singh PW3. On the other hand Mohan Lal, driver of the bus, did not appear before the learned Tribunal to oppose the plea of the claimants that it was the deceased himself who was F.A.O. No. 1087 of 2009 -3- responsible for causing the accident. He was proceeded against ex parte in the case. Moreover, there is no material available on the record to show that either Mohan Lal or Om Parkash Juneja, driver and owner, respectively, of the bus in question were in collusion with the claimants. The non-appearance of Mohan Lal, driver, before the learned Tribunal is sufficient to establish that it was he who was driving the bus in a rash and negligent manner and by bringing the bus to its wrong side, hit the car which was being driven by Devinder Singh Walia-deceased. Learned counsel for the appellant also submitted that no documentary evidence has been produced by the claimants to prove that the deceased was having a monthly income of Rs. 8000/- per month. More over, the multiplier of 14 applied by the learned Tribunal in calculating the amount of compensation was on the higher side. According to the claimants, Devinder Singh Walia- deceased was aged about 26 years and used to work as Security Incharge with M/s A.P. Plus Security Services and Training Institute Private Limited and at the relevant time he was posted at Ansal Plaza Building, Ferozepur Road, Ludhiana as Security Incharge to supervise the security and earning more than Rs.15,000/- per month. In order to prove their case, the claimants examined PW4 Sachin Sharma, who deposed that Devinder Singh Walia was working in his Company as F.A.O. No. 1087 of 2009 -4- Security Incharge and as per his salary certificate Ex. P.1, the total emoluments of Devinder Singh Walia were Rs. 15,975/-. Learned Tribunal declined to place any reliance on the salary certificate Ex. P1 on the ground that there was no document on the file to prove that the deceased was an income tax payee and also no income tax was deducted at source by the employer of the deceased inspite of the fact that the income of the deceased was taxable. However, taking into consideration the fact that the deceased was employed in the private sector, his monthly income was taken to be Rs.8,000/- as per the prevalent salary structure of employees of private sector. Even at the time of the accident in question, the deceased was owning the car which he was driving. Ownership of car by the deceased is another indication of the financial status of an individual. By taking into consideration the aforementioned circumstances, it cannot be said that the learned Tribunal committed an error in determining the monthly income of the deceased to be Rs. 8,000/- per month. As the deceased was 27 years of age, multiplier of 14 could safely be applied so as to determine the total amount of compensation which the claimants were entitled to receive on account of the death of Devinder Singh Walia, who was husband of Rachu Walia, claimant, father of Ramneek Singh, claimant and son of Amarjit Kaur and Balwinder Singh-claimants. F.A.O. No. 1087 of 2009 -5- In view of the above, no case is made out for any interference in the impugned judgement passed by the learned Tribunal in granting an amount of Rs. 8,96,000/- to the claimants as compensation along with interest @ 6% per annum on the same on account of death of Devinder Singh Walia in a motor vehicular accident, which was caused on account of rash and negligent driving of the bus by its driver Mohan Lal. The appeal is, accordingly, dismissed. ( T.P.S. MANN ) March 02, 2009 JUDGE satish Whether to be referred to the Reporters : YES / NO