FAO No. 844 of 1992 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.844 of 1992 Decided on : 18-12-2008 Smt. Swaranjit Kaur and others ....Appellants VERSUS Rasal Singh and others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mr. Munishwar Puri, Advocate for the appellants. MAHESH GROVER, J This appeal is directed against the award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Amritsar, dated 29.1.92. In an accident, which took place on 9.3.88, Kulwant Singh lost his life. The claimants were widow and four minor children of the deceased who preferred a claim petition seeking compensation on account of death of the deceased. The Tribunal assessed his income as Rs. 13954/- per annum on the basis of income tax return filed prior to his death. Dependency was assessed as Rs. 9300/- per annum after making a deduction of 1/3rd on account of personal expenses and multiplier of 16 was applied to arrive at compensation of Rs.1,48,000/- which was awarded alongwith an interest of 12% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till the date of its realisation. Dis-satisfied with the award, the appellants are in appeal. Learned counsel for the appellants has contended that the FAO No. 844 of 1992 2 amount awarded is inadequate and cut of 1/3rd on account of personal expenses is excessive. After hearing learned counsel for the appellants and perusing the award, I am of the considered opinion that the award deserves to be modified. Income of the deceased has been righly assessed by the Tribunal on the basis of income tax returns as Rs. 13954/- per annum, however, deduction of 1/3rd on account of personal expenses is excessive considering the number of dependents. By resorting to rough guess work, a cut of 1/4th would be just and adequate in the given set of circumstances. Dependency in this manner comes to Rs. 10465/- per annum which is rounded off to Rs.10500/- per annum. Multiplier of 17 would be just and appropriate considering the age of the deceased as 34 years. In this manner, compensation comes to Rs. 1,78,500/-. An amount of Rs.20,000/- is awarded on account of funeral expenses and loss of estate etc. Therefore, the total compensation comes to Rs. 1,98,500/-. 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. The appeal stands allowed in the aforesaid terms and the award of the Tribunal is modified accordingly. December 18 , 2008 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge