IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. F.A.O. No. 237 of 1991 Date of Decision: 10.12.2008 Smt.Jasbir Kaur and others. ....... Appellants through Proxy counsel for Mrs.Jatinderjit Kaur,Advocate. Versus Resham Singh and others. ....... Respondent nos. 1 & 2 through Shri Sandeep Khunger, Advocate. Respondent nos. 3 to 6 through Nemo. CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER .... 1. Whether Reporters of Local Newspapers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? .... Mahesh Grover,J. This appeal is directed against award/ judgment dated 24.11.1990 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jalandhar (for short, `the Tribunal') in M.A.C.T. Case No. 1 of 1988. Palwinder Singh lost his life in a road accident which took place on 5.8.1988. He was Lecturer in Physical Education and was drawing a salary of Rs.3180/- per month. A claim petition was filed by the widow, three children and parents of the deceased for grant compensation. The offending vehicle was stated to be a truck bearing F.A.O.No.237 of 1991 -2- .... registration No.PJF-3455 owned by respondent no.2, whereas respondent no.1 was its driver at the time of accident. Respondent no.3 is the Insurance Company with whom the offending vehicle stood insured. After appraisal of the entire evidence on record, the Tribunal found that the accident in which the deceased died was caused on account of rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle by respondent no.1. Thereafter, the Tribunal assessed the compensation payable to the claimants. The salary of the deceased was accepted by the Tribunal to be his monthly income, but the dependency of the claimants was taken as Rs.1500/- per month,i.e., Rs.18000/- per annum. A multiplier of `12' was adopted as the deceased was 52-53 years old at the time of accident and he would have retired after five years on attaining the age of superannuation. In this way, a total compensation of Rs.2,16,000/- was allowed to the claimants along with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of claim petition till the date of realisation. Out of the aforementioned amount, the widow was allowed a sum of Rs.1,06,000/-, whereas three minor children were given Rs.30,000/- each and the parents were awarded Rs.20,000/- to be shared equally. Respondent nos. 1 to 3 were jointly as well as severally held liable to pay the compensation and interest to the claimants. Feeling dis-satisfied with amount of compensation, the widow and the children of the deceased have come in appeal. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record, I am of the opinion that the impugned award deserves to be F.A.O.No.237 of 1991 -3- .... modified in so far as the quantum of compensation is concerned. Concededly, the deceased was drawing a salary of Rs.3180/- per month. He was survived by widow, three children and parents. Two daughters of the deceased were 16 years and 19 years old, respectively, whereas the son was minor. In this view of the matter, the dependency should have been assessed after deducting 1/4th of his income on account of his personal expenses. If done so, the dependency comes to Rs.2385/- per month, i.e., Rs.28620/- per year. The Tribunal has also gone wrong in assessing the age of the deceased as 52-53 years as there is material to show, viz., the post mortem report, that he was aged about 40 years. Even in the claim petition and the statement of the widow, who appeared as PW2, the age of the deceased was stated to be 40 years. Therefore, it will be safe to take the age of the deceased as 40 years. A multiplier of `16' would be just and appropriate, which is also prescribed for the victims of the accident falling with the age group to which the deceased belonged, in the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Act,1988 which is a guiding factor. In this way, the compensation works out to Rs.4,57,920/-. An additional amount of Rs.20,000/- is allowed on account of funeral expenses and loss of estate etc. Accordingly, the claimants are allowed a total sum of Rs.4,77,920/- as compensation. The enhanced compensation shall be paid along with interest at F.A.O.No.237 of 1991 -4- .... the rate of 9% per annum from the date of claim petition till the date of realisation. The liability to pay the enhanced compensation and interest shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. The impugned award is modified to the above extent and the appeal is accepted in the aforementioned terms. December 10,2008 ( Mahesh Grover ) “SCM” Judge