FAO No. 6981 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 6981 of 2010(O&M) Date of decision 31.10.2011 Suman Lata and Others Appellants v. Rajesh Kumar and Another Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. Rajneesh Chadwal, Advocate for the appellants Ms.Vandana Malhotra,Advocate for respondent No.2 .... JITENDRA CHAUHAN.J 1. This appeal has been filed by the appellants against the Award dated 6.1.2010, passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Narnaul (for short the Tribunal). 2. Brief facts of the case are that on 1.12.2007, deceased Mahender Singh, along with Daya Ram, residents of village Dublana, Tehsil Narnaul had gone to Rewari. While on his way back to his village, in the area of Brass Market, he was struck by the car bearing registration No. HR- 16C-9995 (offending car), driven by respondent No.1 in a rash and negligent manner. He received grievous injuries and was taken to Civil Hospital, Rewari. He was declared dead. An FIR was registered against respondent No.1 (driver-cum-owner of the car ) at Police Station, Model Town, Rewari. 3. As per the claimants, the deceased Mahender Singh was employed as Supervisor with Ganga Services Pvt. Ltd. and was getting a salary of Rs. 6750/-p.m. He was 32 years of age at the time of death, and FAO No. 6981 of 2010 2 was the only bread-winner of the family. The claimants have filed claim petition under section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short the Act) claiming Rs. 15 lacs as compensation. 4. On notice, respondent No.1, driver-cum-owner of the offending car denied the accident. Respondent No.2, Insurance Company also denied the alleged accident. It was pleaded that the Insurance Company is not liable to pay compensation as respondent No.1 did not hold a valid driving licence. 5. The Ld. Tribunal after appreciating the entire evidence on record, awarded total compensation to the tune of Rs. 4,04,000/- to the claimants by observing as under:- “13. Petitioner No.1 Suman Lata (PW3) testified that the deceased was 32 year old and was working as a Supervisor and was being paid Rs. 6750/- and after deduction of provident fund, he used to get Rs. 5924/- per month. PW4 Rajender Kumar Supervisor, Ganga Services Pvt. Ltd. appeared with relevant record and deposed that the deceased was working as a Supervisor with that concern and was getting Rs. 8500/- per month as salary. Ex.PC is the copy of salary statement. In the cross-examination, the witness made clear that the deceased was working under labour contract and the name of the contractor is Aant Ram. The witness further made clear that he did not bring the relevant registers regarding employment of different persons. Learned counsel for respondent No.2 contended that there is no cogent evidence on the file to prove the income of the deceased as pleaded in the petition. FAO No. 6981 of 2010 3 However, learned counsel for petitioners submitted that even minimum wages of unskilled labourers are Rs. 2500/- per month and in the present case the deceased was employed as a Supervisor and as such his income must have been much more. Having regard to the material available on record, I deem it appropriate to assess the monthly income of the deceased at Rs. 3000/-. The annual income comes to Rs. 36,000/-. Age of the deceased as per the postmortem report (Ex. PB) was 32 years and there are three dependents. As per directions laid down by Hon'ble the Supreme Court of India in the judgment dated 15.4.2009 passed in civil appeal No. 3483 of 2008 titled as Smt. Sarla Verma and Others versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another, cited as 2009(3) R.C.R. (Civil) 77, 1/3rd of the income of the deceased is to be deducted on account of his personal expenses where the number of dependent family members is 2 to 3 and a multiplier of 16 is to be applied in case of death of a person of age group of 31 to 35 years. After deducting 1/3rd of the income of the deceased, the dependency of the petitioners on him comes to Rs. 24,000/- per annum and when a multiplier of 16 is applied, the amount would be Rs. 3,84,000/-. In addition, the petitioners are entitled to Rs. 5000/- on account of loss of estate and Rs. 5000/- towards funeral expenses besides Rs. 10000/- as loss of consortium payable to the widow. In this manner, the total amount of compensation comes to Rs. 4,04,000/-”. FAO No. 6981 of 2010 4 6. The Ld. Tribunal has rightly assessed the income and age of the deceased by applying the guidelines framed by Hon'ble the Apex Court in the case of Smt. Sarla Verma (supra) and awarded compensation to the tune of Rs. 4,04,000/- to the claimants. No ground is made out to interfere in the well-reasoned award dated 6.1.2010 passed by the Ld. Tribunal. The appeal of appellant-claimants fails and is dismissed. (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) JUDGE 31.10.2011 MS