FAO No.2686 of 2006 (O&M) 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH FAO No.2686 of 2006 (O&M) Date of decision May 24, 2011 Mrs. Vijay Lakshami Deambi and others ....... Appellants Versus Sh. Rajinder Singh and others ........Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN Present:- Mr. Ashwani Arora , Advocate for the appellants. **** 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 compensation for death of a male aged 48 years. He was an Assistant General Manager in Reserve Bank of India and drawing gross salary of `25,679/- and the tax deducted at source was `1769/-. He had availed several loans and the net salary at his death brought through the salary certificate produced before the Tribunal was `6,590/-. The Tribunal therefore made the assessment taking the income to be the net salary, made a deduction of 1/3rd and applied a multiplier of 10. The counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants have a grievance about each one of the formulae applied by the Tribunal for assessing the compensation and would seek for reappraisal on the lines laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma Vs.Delhi Road Transport Corporation reported in (2009) 6 SC 121. Since the FAO No.2686 of 2006 (O&M) 2 tenure of service was certain and there were sure prospect of increase in his salary and emoluments, he seeks for an additional provision for 30% in the manner laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. The net salary was wrongly taken when it ought to have been, according to the counsel the gross salary minus tax. I uphold the objections and reappraise the same as tabulated below:- Age Occupation Claimants S.No. Heads of Claim Tribunal High Court 1 Income `25,679.00 2 Increase 10% less tax `30044.70 3 Deduction 1/3rd 4 Monthly dependency `20,029.80 5 Multiplier 13 6 Total dependency `31,24,648.80 7 Loss of consortium `10,000.00 8 Loss to estate `15,000.00 Total `31,49,648.80 rounded off `31,50,000/- 2. The amount in excess of what has been awarded by the Tribunal shall carry interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of petition till the date of payment. The distribution of amount amongst the claimants shall be in the same manner as determined by the Tribunal. The major claimants shall be entitled to withdraw 75% and the rest of the amount shall be deposited in a Nationalized Bank for a period of 6 years split into 6 equal shares, the first share to be realized after one year, the second after two years and so on up to sixth year. All the petitioners treated as minors in the petition at the time of institution ought to have attained majority now. Appropriate applications be made before the Tribunal to treat them majors and withdrawal could be applied for to the extent permitted above. The award of the Tribunal stands modified and the FAO No.2686 of 2006 (O&M) 3 appeal is allowed to the above extent. 3. The liability amongst the respondents shall also be in the same manner as determined by the Tribunal. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE May 24, 2011 archana