FAO No.5699 of 2010 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.5699 of 2010 (in MACT No.135 of 2007) Date of Decision : 21.11.2011 Sh. Amit Jain and another .......Appellants Versus Sanjay Kumar @ Puran and others .......Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. Raj Kumar Gupta, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. Tajender K. Joshi, Advocate, for respondent No.3. **** JITENDRA CHAUHAN, J. (ORAL) The appellants have preferred this appeal seeking enhancement in the amount of compensation granted vide Award dated 19.5.2009, passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Panipat, on account of the death of their minor daughter, Manu Jain, in a motor vehicular accident. Briefly stated, facts of the case in hand are that on 30.09.2006, Sheela Devi, since deceased, her daughter-in-law, Ritu Jain, her grandson, Rahee Jain, and grand daughter, Manu Jain, since deceased, were going from Panipat to Madlauda in a Santro Car 1 FAO No.5699 of 2010 bearing No.HR-06K-0567, which was being driven by respondent No.1, Sanjay Kumar @ Puran at a high speed. When they reached near Thermal Plant in front of DAV School, suddenly 3-4 children came in front of the car. In order to save the children, the driver turned his car towards right side and struck against a Tata-407 truck bearing No.HR-39-0180, coming from the Madlauda side. As a result, Manu Jain succumbed to the injuries at the spot, whereas the remaining passengers sustained multiple and grievous injuries. The injured were removed to Ravindra Hospital, Panipat, from where, they were referred to Delhi, being in serious condition. Later on, they were admitted in Maharaja Aggarsain Hospital, Delhi, where Sheela, wife of Ram Dhari, succumbed to her injuries on 6.10.2006. Initially DDR No.18 dated 1.10.2006 was recorded in Police Station, Madlauda but subsequently, FIR No.10 dated 9.1.2007 was registered under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A, IPC, at Police Station, Madlauda, Panipat. In this background, four claim petitions were preferred which were disposed of by the learned Tribunal, vide impugned Award. The appellant, namely Amit Jain and Mrs. Sarika Jain, were awarded compensation of `1,50,000/- in equal shares on account of the death of their daughter, Manu Jain, in MACT Case No.135 of 2007. The claimant-appellants, have preferred the present appeal seeking enhancement in the amount awarded by the learned Tribunal on account of the death of their daughter, Manu Jain, in the accident. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 2 FAO No.5699 of 2010 From the perusal of the impugned Award, it is made out that the deceased, Manu Jain, was aged about 1 ½ years at the time of her death. The claimants are her parents. A lump sum amount of `1,50,000/- has been granted by the learned Tribunal as compensation. Hon’ble the Supreme Court, in Priya Vasant Kalgutkar Vs. Murad Shaikh and others, AIR 2010 SC 40, has awarded a sum of `2,00,000/- as compensation to the parents on account of the death of an infant. Following the same principle, this Court feels that the ends of justice would be met in case the amount of compensation is enhanced from `1,50,000/- to `2,00,000/-. I order accordingly. The enhanced amount of `50,000/- shall be paid to the claimant-appellants within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of certified copy of this judgment, failing which, they shall also be entitled to the interest @ 7.5% p.a. from the date of filing the present appeal, till its realization. The present appeal is partly allowed and the Award of the learned Tribunal is modified to the extent indicated above. ( JITENDRA CHAUHAN ) 21.11.2011 JUDGE atulsethi Note: Whether to be referred to reporter ? Yes/No 3