FAO No.5689 of 2010 (O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.5689 of 2010 (O&M) Date of Decision. 07.03.2011 Ravinder Singh son of Shri Sunder Singh and another ......Appellants Versus Munish Chaudhary son of Shri Narinder Singh and others .....Respondents Present: Mr. Anil Shukla, Advocate for Mr. Gurinder Pal Singh, Advocate for the appellants. CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN 1. Whether Reporters of local papers 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? -.- K. KANNAN J.(ORAL) 1. The appeal is for enhancement of claim for death of a person aged 20 years. He was said to have had a diploma in software engineering and was said to be also running a fleet of transport vehicles, earning Rs.20,000/- as income. There was no proof that he had been an income tax assessee and with inadequate details about his income, the Tribunal took the income to be Rs.4,000/-, made a deduction of 50% for personal expenses and adopted a multiplier of 18. The Tribunal determined Rs.4,42,000/- as the compensation payable including also the funeral expenses for the deceased. Learned counsel states that the income assessed at Rs.4,000/- was grossly inadequate and it ought to have been more. Even if we were to assume the income at Rs.6700/- and if a 50% deduction were to be made and a suitable multiplier were FAO No.5689 of 2010 (O&M) -2- to be adopted, which ought to be only in relation to the age of the younger of the parents and not the age of the deceased himself as laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Shakti Devi Vs. New India Assurance Company Ltd. JT 2010 (13) SC 103, the determination of compensation by adopting a multiplier of 18, adequately compensates for the lower value of the multiplicand as stated by the counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant. 2. The award is just and reasonable and I find no reason to interfere with the award. The award is confirmed and the appeal is dismissed. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE March 07, 2011 Pankaj*