FAO No. 879 of 1988 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 879 of 1988 Decided on : 16-12-2008 Darshana and others ....Appellants VERSUS The Punjab State and others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mr. Hitesh Pandit, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. N.S.Virk, Addl. A.G., Punjab. MAHESH GROVER, J This appeal is directed against the award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ropar dated 3.8.1988. The deceased Sita Ram lost his life in an accident which took place on 29.8.1987. He was an ex-serviceman and was aged 43 years. Claim petition was preferred by widow and three children out of which one daughter was major and two children were minor. The claimants pleaded that the deceased was earning by working as Watchman in the Bank and for 42 days he worked in the Bank in the month of July and August, 1987 he earned Rs.1222.75 Paisa and that he was also engaged in the selling of bread in the morning and was earning Rs.300/- per month from it. The Tribunal without assessing the income assessed the dependency as Rs.500/- per month and applied a multiplier of 14 to grant a compensation of Rs.84,000/- which was apportioned in the following manner:- FAO No. 879 of 1988 2 1. Widow Rs.40,000/- 2. Major daughter Rs.20,000/- 3. Minor children Rs.12,000/- each Dis-satisfied with the award the appellants are in appeal. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the award, I am of the considered opinion that the amount awarded by the Tribunal deserves to be modified. The deceased was aged 43 years and was able bodied person as made out from the record. He was also working as Watchman although on temporary shift basis. He was earning some amount from the sale of bread etc. Therefore, it could be safely said that the deceased had capacity to earn atleast Rs.1000/- per month. Therefore, his income is accordingly assessed as Rs.1000/- per month. He was survived by his widow and three children. Therefore, a cut of 1/ 4th on account of personal expenses would be just and appropriate. Dependency in this manner comes to Rs. 750/- per month i.e. Rs.9,000/- per annum. According to the age of the deceased and as per the Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act which is the guiding factor, multiplier ought to have been 15. Compensation in this way comes to Rs. 1,35,000/- An amount of Rs.20,000/- is awarded on account of funeral expenses and loss of estate. Therefore, the total compensation comes to Rs. 1,55,000/-. The enhanced amount of compensation shall be paid alongwith interest at the rate of 9 % per annum from the date of filing of petition till the date of its realisation. The liability to pay the amount shall be the same as has been determined by the Tribunal. FAO No. 879 of 1988 3 The appeal stands allowed in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal is modified accordingly. December 16 , 2008 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge