FAO No.3189 of 2011 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.3189 of 2011 Date of Decision : 30.11.2011 Soma Bai and others .......Appellants Versus Gurjeet Singh and another .......Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. G.S. Saini, Advocate, for the appellants. Mr. Ramesh Sharma, Advocate, for respondent No.1. Mr. Vinod Gupta, Advocate, for respondent No.2. **** JITENDRA CHAUHAN, J. (ORAL) CM No.10581-CII of 2011 Heard. No reply to the CM has been filed. Delay of 190 days in filing the appeal is condoned. Main case Challenge in the present appeal is to the Award dated 13.5.2010, passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ferozepur, vide which the claimant-appellants have 1 FAO No.3189 of 2011 been awarded compensation to the tune of `5,34,000/-, on account of the death of Piara Singh @ Pehalwan Singh, in a road accident dated 19.06.2006. Brief facts of the case in hand are that on the fateful day, Piara Singh, the deceased, was coming towards Abohar on motorcycle bearing No.PB-05-8992, being driven by Rattan Singh. Kashmir Singh and Gurjant Singh were following them on another motorcycle. At about 3.00-3.30 p.m., when they reached in the area of Village Gadda Wali, PS Khuian Sarwar, an oil tanker bearing No.RJ-31G-4088, being driven by respondent No.1, rashly, negligently and at a very high speed, came from the opposite side and hit against the motorcycle of the deceased by coming on the wrong side. As a result of the accident, both the occupants of the motorcycle received grievous injuries. The driver, respondent No.1 fled from the spot. The injured were brought to the Civil Hospital, Abohar, but the injuries being serious; they were referred to the hospital at Ganganagar and further to Bikaner, where Piara Singh @ Pehalwan Singh succumbed to his injuries. On the statement of Kashmir Singh, FIR No.113 dated 24.6.2006 was registered at PS Khuian Sarwar against the driver, respondent No.1. In this background, the claimant-appellants preferred claim petition before the learned Tribunal and were awarded an 2 FAO No.3189 of 2011 amount of `5,34,000/- as compensation. Enhancement thereof has been sought by way of the present appeal. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. From the record, it is made out that the deceased, Piara Singh was aged 37 years at the time of his death in the accident. His monthly income has been assessed at `5,000/- per month. The claimants are wife and three minor children. In Smt. Sarla Verma and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2009(3) RCR (Civil) 77, the deduction on account of personal expenses of the deceased ought to have been assessed to the extent of 1/4th, accordingly, the dependency is assessed at `3,750/- as against the amount of `3,500/-. Ordered accordingly. The learned Tribunal also erred in applying multiplier of 12 in the instant case keeping in view the parameters noticed in Smt. Sarla Verma’s case (supra). The multiplier of 12 as applied by the learned Tribunal is increased to 15. As a result of the aforesaid discussion, the claimant- appellants are held entitled to an amount of `6,75,000/- (`3,750/- X 12 X 15) against the head ‘dependency’. Another amount of `20,000/- is granted under all conventional heads. Accordingly, the claimant-appellants shall be entitled to an amount of `1,61,000/- (`6,95,000/- – `5,34,000/- already granted by the learned Tribunal), which shall be payable to them 3 FAO No.3189 of 2011 within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of certified copy of the judgment, failing which, he shall also be entitled to interest @ 7.5% p.a. from the date of filing the present appeal, till its realization. The present appeal is partly allowed and the impugned Award dated 13.5.2010 is modified to the extent indicated above. ( JITENDRA CHAUHAN ) 30.11.2011 JUDGE atulsethi Note: Whether to be referred to reporter ? Yes/No 4