FAO No. 1995 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 1995 of 2011 Date of decision: 17.10.2011 Smt. Rajni and Others Appellants vs. Sukhjeet Singh @ Sukha and Another Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. G.C.Shahpuri, Advocate for the appellants Ms. Vandana Malhotra, Advocate for the Insurance Company-respondent No.2 .... JITENDRA CHAUHAN.J This appeal has been filed by the claimants against the Award dated 21.10.2010, passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Yamuna Nagar at Jagadhari ( for short the Tribunal) praying that the amount of compensation deserves to be enhanced. The brief facts are that on 11.7.2009, Sinder Pal @ Surinder Kumar, lost his life in a motor vehicular accident, as a result of rash and negligent driving of respondent No.1, driver of car bearing registration No. HR-07-J-4525 . As per the claimants, the deceased was earning Rs. 9000/- p.m by running a gas welding shop and doing agricultural work. He was 31 years old at the time of the accident. The claimants i.e his wife, minor son and parents were dependent on his income. The Ld. Tribunal, after appreciating the evidence on record,has awarded an amount of Rs. FAO No. 1995 of 2011 2 4,86,000/- to the claimants after applying the multiplier of 15. In addition to that, an amount of Rs. 5000/- each towards loss of estate and funeral charges; and Rs. 10,000/- to the widow, for loss of consortium, being spouse of the deceased have also been awarded. The Ld. Tribunal further held respondents No. 1 and 2 jointly and severally liable to pay the amount of compensation to the claimants. Learned counsel for the appellants submits that the Tribunal has wrongly applied the multiplier of 15 and that in view of the guidelines framed in Smt. Sarla Verma and Others v. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, 2009 (6) Supreme Court Cases 121, the multiplier of 17 should have been applied, keeping in view the age of the deceased. He further submits that the amounts of funeral charges, loss of estate and loss of consortium are inadequate. He prays that the amounts of these heads be enhanced. Learned counsel also contends that no amount towards transportation charges was awarded to the claimants. He submits that the accident took place near Kalsani turn at Shahbad Markanda and the cremation was performed at Shahpura, Sub Tehsil Mustafabad, the native village of the deceased, which is at a distance of 70 kms. He submits that a reasonable amount towards transportation charges be also granted to the claimants. Learned counsel for the respondents fairly conceded to the prayer of the learned counsel for the appellants. In view of the facts narrated above and the law laid down in Smt. Sarla Verma's case (supra), this Court is of the opinion that in the instant case, the multiplier of 16 should have been applied instead of 15. FAO No. 1995 of 2011 3 Accordingly, it is ordered that the multiplier is enhanced to 16 from 15 in this case. Applying the multiplier of 16, the amount of dependency to be enhanced comes to Rs.32,400/-. The amounts awarded under the above- heads are enhanced in the following manner:- Funeral charges: Rs. 10,000/- Loss of estate Rs. 10,000/- Loss of consortium Rs. 20,000/- Besides that an amount of Rs. 3500/- is granted to the claimants towards transportation charges. Thus, the claimants, in all, are entitled to receive an enhanced amount of Rs. 75,900 (rounded off to Rs. 76,000/-) within 45 days from the date of receipt of copy of this judgment. If the amount is not deposited within the stipulated period, the appellants shall be entitled to an interest of 7.5% p.a from the date of filing of the appeal, till its realization. The amount will be distributed by the Tribunal amongst the claimants, as indicated in the Award. With this modification in the Award, the appeal is partly allowed. (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) 17.10.2011 JUDGE MS