FAO No.4010 of 2009(O&M) [ 1 ] IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH ... FAO No.4010 of 2009(O&M) Decided on : August 11, 2009 New India Assurance Co. Ltd. ... Appellant VERSUS Sadak Ali and others ... Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE A.N.JINDAL Present: Mr.R.C.Kapoor, Advocate for the appellant. A.N.JINDAL, J.- This appeal is directed against the award dated 24.4.2009 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Gurdaspur, whereby, the claimant – respondents no.1 to 5 (herein referred as `the claimants') were awarded compensation to the tune of Rs.8,47,400/- against the appellant – New India Assurance Company Limited (herein referred as `the appellant') and respondents No.6 and 7. The claimants are grand-mother, father, two sisters and one brother of the deceased. The appellant has raised two contentions; firstly, since the deceased was a bachelor, therefore, the multiplier should have been applied by taking into consideration the age of the parents; secondly, the Tribunal instead of taking his gross salary for determining the dependency, should FAO No.4010 of 2009(O&M) [ 2 ] have taken the net salary into consideration. Having probed into the aforesaid contentions, no merit could be found therein, so as to convince the mind of this Court to interfere with the impugned award. The Apex Court in its recent decision in case Smt.Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2009(3) RCR(Civil) 77 issued some guidelines for determining the multiplier in cases where the deceased had been between the age of 15 to 25, which obviously appears to have been fixed knowing fully well that the deceased may be bachelor at the time of death as he could not be married below 18 years of age. The Apex Court in the aforesaid case further elaborating the case of the bachelors observed as under:- “15. Where the deceased was a bachelor and the claimants are the parents, the deduction follows a different principle. In regard to bachelors, normally, 50% is deducted as personal and living expenses, because it is assumed that a bachelor would tend to spend more on himself. Even otherwise, there is also the possibility of his getting married in a short time, in which event the contribution to the parent/s and siblings is likely to be cut drastically. Further, subject to evidence to the contrary, the father is likely to have his own income and will not be considered as a dependent and the mother alone will be considered as a dependent.” Now analyzing the facts of the present case on the parameters FAO No.4010 of 2009(O&M) [ 3 ] laid down by the Apex Court in Smt.Sarla Verma's case (supra), it may be observed that the Court could take note that if the deceased was of marriageable age, then there were chances of his being married and getting children within a year or so. In that situation, his own dependency was likely to be reduced as he would start contributing more for the maintenance of his wife and children. In the present case, the deceased was of 25 years and he was likely to be married within a year or so. He being a healthy young man and having permanent employment in the Indian Army, was having better matrimonial prospects, therefore, the principle to make deduction of ½ salary in case of a bachelor does not apply in this case. The deceased being posted in the Army needed no money for his own maintenance as it was to be borne by the State. Thus, he must be contributing the whole of his income to maintain his father, brother and sisters. Thus, it would not possibly be fair to make a cut of more than 1/3rd towards his own dependency. The deceased was aged about 25 years. He was a promising army personnel. His parents were also young, therefore, while taking the case from any angle, the multiplier of 18, applied in this case is quite suitable and appropriate. Now, coming to the other contention, the salary certificate issued by the Commandant, 4 Guards (1 Rajput) Brigade (Ex.A1) reveals that the deceased was drawing salary to the tune of Rs.5,852/- per month and the deductions of Rs.1,030/- were being made per month on account of AFPP Fund and AGI. The salary certificate further reveals that the salary was to be increased on enforcement of the VIth Pay Commission. Even otherwise, it is mentioned in Smt.Sarla Verma's case (supra) that the FAO No.4010 of 2009(O&M) [ 4 ] Tribunal is also to keep in mind the prospective increase in the income of the deceased from 30% to 50%. Any way, I do not want to enhance the compensation as it is not claimants' appeal, but it would be suffice to say that the deceased was an young man at the threshold of his service career, drawing salary of Rs.5852/- per month. He had bright career and promotional prospects, as a result of which his salary was likely to be increased manifold. As such, I do not deem it appropriate to make a cut in his gross salary, which was considered as determining factor for assessing the compensation. Resultantly, finding no merit in the appeal, the same is hereby dismissed. August 11, 2009 ( A.N.JINDAL ) `gian' JUDGE