FAO No.155 of 1987 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.155 of 1987 Date of decision: 13.5.2008 Sumitra Bhatia and another .....Appellants Versus Gurbachan Singh and others ......Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR GARG * * * Present: Shri H.N. Mehtani, Advocate for the appellant. Shri Vinod Chaudhri, Advocate for the Insurance Co. Rakesh Kumar Garg, J. 1. The claimants have filed this appeal for enhancement of compensation on account of death of Sh. Om Parkash Bhatia, who had died due to rash and negligent driving of truck/tanker No.RCC 6555 by respondent No.1 in an accident which took place at about 9 P.M on 4.3.1985. 2. The claimants are the widow and minor son of the deceased- Om Parkash Bhatia. In the claim application filed before the Motor Accident Claims, Tribunal, Bhiwani, a compensation of Rs.4 lacs was claimed alleging therein that at the time of accident the deceased was aged about 28 years and his monthly income was around Rs.1500/- per month. (i.e. Rs.1,000/- as salary and Rs.500/- by way of travelling allowance and part time work). In support of this claim, the appellant-Sumitra Devi appeared as AW-3 and stated that the salary of the deceased was Rs.1,000/- per month. He was working as a salesman with M/s Pure Pharmaceuticals (India) Hisar. She has also stated in her statement that the deceased used to get Rs.500/- as travelling allowance. Harbhagwan son of Sh. Parma Nand appeared as PW-5 and stated that he is the FAO No.155 of 1987 2 proprietor of M/s Pure Pharmaceuticals (India) Hisar and the deceased was getting a salary of Rs.1,000/- per month as wages. The said witness also proved the certificate of salary Ex.A-3. There is no rebuttal to the above said evidence produced by the claimants. The Tribunal determined the monthly income of the deceased at Rs.1,000/- per month. The Tribunal also observed that the deceased must be spending Rs.400/- on his personal expenses out of the said monthly income, and, thus, determined annual dependency of the deceased at Rs.7,200/- per annum and while applying a multiplier of 16, awarded a sum of Rs.1,15,200/- as compensation to the claimants with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the application till the date of realization of the amount, vide award dated 20.12.1986. 3. Sh. H.N. Mehtani, learned counsel for the appellants has vehemently argued that the amount of compensation awarded to the claimants is inadequate as the Tribunal has applied excessive cut on the monthly income of the deceased towards his personal expenses. It has also been argued by the learned counsel for the appellants that the deceased was also receiving a sum of Rs.500/- per month as travelling allowance which was sufficient for his personal use and, therefore, a cut of Rs.400/- per month from the income of the deceased on account of his personal expenses is wrong. He has also stated that keeping in view the age of the deceased and the claimants, a higher multiplier of at least 20 should have been applied in the facts and circumstances of this case. Thus, the Tribunal has erred in law while determining the compensation. Therefore, Sh. Mehtani has prayed for enhancement of compensation. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel for the Insurance Company has argued that the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is just and adequate and the appeal is liable to be dismissed. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the FAO No.155 of 1987 3 record. 6. From the facts of the case, it may be seen that the claimants are widow and minor son of the deceased and keeping in view the requirement of the family expenses especially the needs of the minor child who was aged about 3 and a half years at the time of death of Sh. Om Parkash Bhatia, it seems that a cut of Rs.400/- applied by the MACT, Bhiwani towards the personal expenses of the deceased is excessive. Moreover, the Tribunal has ignored the unrebutted statement of AW-3 wherein she has stated that the deceased used to get Rs.500/- as travelling allowance. Keeping in view the availability of this additional amount of the deceased as travelling expenses, a cut of Rs.300/- per month from his salary of Rs.1000/- towards his personal expenses is just and proper and, therefore, the annual dependency of the deceased comes to Rs.8,400/- per annum. 7. Keeping in view the totality of circumstances, in my view the multiplier of 18 instead of 16 in the present case is justified. Thus, the claimants of the deceased i.e. appellants, are entitled to the compensation on account of his death at Rs.1,51,200/-. Since the Tribunal has already granted a compensation of Rs.1,15,200/- to the claimants-appellants, the appellants are, thus, entitled to Rs.36,000/-. The claimants would also be entitled to interest as granted by the Tribunal on this enhanced compensation. 8. Appeal is allowed in these terms. May 13, 2008 (RAKESH KUMAR GARG) ps JUDGE