IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.963 of 1990 (O&M) Date of decision:17.01.2011 Smt. Kirpa Devi and others ....Appellants versus Bali Ram and others ..Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: Mr. Adish Gupta, Advocate, for the appellants. None for respondent No.1. Mr. A.P.Bhandari, Advocate, for respondent No.2. Mr. Inderjit Sharma, Advocate, and Mr. Pradeep Bedi, Advocate, for respondent No.3. ---- 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? No. 2. To be referred to the reporters or not ? No. 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest ? No. ---- K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. The appeal is for enhancement of compensation for death of a person, who was 34 years of age and working as a Clerk in the Agricultural Department. The claimants were widow, 5 minor children and aged parents. While ascertaining compensation, the Tribunal found that the was earning Rs.1,376.75 paise, assessed his age as 40 having regard to the fact that he had 5 children and determined the compensation of Rs.1,02,000/-. The Tribunal had provided for a multiplier of 10 to arrive at this figure. I will reappraise the compensation in the manner laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sarla Verma and others Versus Delhi Transport Corporation and FAO No.963 of 1990 (O&M) - 2 - another-2009 ACJ 1298. As regards the age, there was proof of the fact that he was a matriculate and the school certificate had been filed that showed his date of birth as 10.10.1956. This, in my view, is more appropriate for a Court to rely on, than merely making a conjecture that he had 5 children and he should have been 40 years of age at that time. I would also provide for a 50% increase of the salary as a prospect of future increase for a person, who was in a stable government employment, I would adopt deduction of 1/5th against 1/3rd having regard to the large family that he was supporting. I will apply a multiplier of 16 against a multiplier of 10 and assess the loss of dependence at Rs.3,17,030/-. Since he had 5 minor children, I would provide loss of love and affection at Rs.2,500/- for each one of the children and Rs.5,000/- towards loss of consortium to the wife. Towards loss to estate, I would estimate to be around Rs.5,000/- and the funeral expenses shall be Rs.2,500/-. The overall compensation shall be Rs.3,42,030/- and the amount in excess over what has been determined already by the Tribunal shall attract interest @ 6% from the date of petition till date of payment. 2. The increase in compensation shall be shared only amongst the widow and children. The liability for the payment of compensation shall be in the same manner as determined by the Tribunal. 3. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 17.01.2011 sanjeev