FAO No.6962 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.6962 of 2010 Date of decision:17.8.2011 Gursharan Kaur and others ...Appellants Versus M/s New Deep Motors (Regd.) and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr.Gagan Deep Singh, Advocate, for the appellants. Mr.R.S.Sharma, Advocate, for the respondent No.1. Mr.R.C.Kapoor, Advocate, for the Insurance Company. -.- JITENDRA CHUAHAN, J. The main arguments raised by the learned counsel for the appellant are that the learned Tribunal has wrongly assessed the dependency as 1/3rd, whereas it should have been 1/4th and the multiplier 13 instead of 12 should have been applied in view of the judgment of Hon'ble the Supreme Court rendered in Smt. Sarla Verma and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2009(3) RCR (Civil) 77. A perusal of the file would reveal that at the time of alleged accident, the age of the deceased was 46 years. The net annual income of the deceased was assessed as `1,20,000/-. The deceased left behind him five dependents. The learned Tribunal accordingly held the dependency at Rs.80,000/- per annum after deducting 1/3rd amount towards his personal expenses and living expenses and applied a multiplier of 12. FAO No.6962 of 2010 2 According to the guidelines laid down by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Sarla Verma's case (supra), where the number of dependent family members is 4 to 6, the deduction towards personal and living expenses of the deceased should be 1/4th. As regards multiplier, it has been observed that where the age of the deceased was between 46 to 50, the appropriate multiplier should be 13. Considering the above factual position, it would be appropriate to deduct the 1/4th amount towards personal expenses of the deceased and to apply the multiplier of 13. Accordingly, the annual income of the deceased after deducting 1/4 amount comes to `90,000/-. Applying the enhanced multiplier of 13, the amount works out to `11,70,000/-. However, the amount of `20,000/-awarded towards loss of estate and `1,0000/- towards last rites will remain same as granted by the learned Tribunal. It is stated that a sum of rupees nine lakhs and ninety thousand has already been deposited pursuant to the award dated 4.5.2010. The remaining amount i.e. `1,80,000/(`11,70,000-`9,90,000) shall be paid within 45 days from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order. In case the payment is not made in the stipulated period, the enhanced amount shall carry interest @6% per annum from the filing of the claim petition till it is paid. In view of the above, the present appeal is partly allowed and the impugned award is modified to the extent indicated above. 17.8.2011 (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) mks JUDGE