FAO No. 863 of 1988 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 863 of 1988 Decided on :04-12-2008 Smt. Mansa Devi and others ....Appellants VERSUS Sh.Gurbachan Lal and others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- None for the appellants. Mr.O.P.Sharma, Addl. Advocate General, Haryana MAHESH GROVER, J This appeal is directed against the award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal dated 19.7.1988. I have heard submissions made by the learned counsel for the State. The claim petition was preferred by the claimants who are widow and five children of the deceased Murari Lal who lost his life in a vehicular accident which took place on 2.8.87. The Tribunal assessed the income of the deceased as Rs. 750/- per month by equating him to a labourer. Dependency was assessed as Rs.400/- after deducting Rs. 350/- on account of personal expenses. However, the annual dependency which comes to Rs.4800/- per annum was rounded off to Rs.5000/- per annum. He was aged 45 years and a multiplier of 12 was applied to arrive at a compensation of Rs.60,000/- (5000 x 12 = 60,000). After hearing learned counsel for the respondent and perusing the award of the Tribunal I am of the considered opinion that the award needs to FAO No. 863 of 1988 2 be modified. It has come in evidence that the deceased was a shoe maker. Even though there was no cogent evidence to show that he was having his own shop or working at the rate of Rs.70 to 80 per day, yet it would be safe to assume that he would be earning more than a labourer as he was a semi skilled worker. Therefore, it would be safe to assess his income as Rs. 1000/- per month. He was survived by his widow and five children. Considering the large number of dependents, it would be just and appropriate to apply unit system. The family consists of seven members and each unit comes to Rs. 142/-. According to the principle applicable to the unit system, two units have to be deducted for the deceased. In this manner, expenditure for personal expenses is assessed as Rs.284/- which is rounded off to Rs.285/-. Therefore, dependency comes to Rs. 715/- per month i.e. Rs.8580/- per annum. A multiplier of 15 would be just and appropriate as per the Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act which is the guiding factor. Therefore, the compensation comes to Rs. 1,28,700/-. An amount of Rs.10,000/- is awarded on account of funeral expenses. Therefore, the total compensation comes to Rs. 1,38,700/-. 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 liability to pay the amount shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. The appeal stands allowed in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal is modified accordingly. December 4 , 2008 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge