FAO No.619 of 2011 (O&M) IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.619 of 2011 (O&M) in MACT No.87 of 2009 Date of Decision : 18.11.2011 Sarita and others .......Appellants Versus Kasam Khan and others .......Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. S.S. Khurana, Advocate, for the appellants. Mr. Tejinder Pal Singh, Advocate, for respondent No.3. **** JITENDRA CHAUHAN, J. (ORAL) CM No.1836-CII of 2011 For the reasons mentioned in the CM application, the same is allowed and the delay of 3 days in filing the present appeal is hereby condoned. FAO No.619 of 2011 The claimants-appellant have come in this appeal against the impugned Award dated 28.5.2010, passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Rewari, seeking enhancement in the amount of compensation awarded on account of the death of the deceased, Rajbir. 1 FAO No.619 of 2011 (O&M) Brief facts of the case in hand are that on 13.8.2009, the deceased, Rajbir, was travelling in a Pick-up No.RJ32-GA-0736, which was being driven by one Satpal. They were going to Village Hasanpur towards Bhiwadi. When they reached near Trimurti Sariya Company, a truck bearing No.RJ-05-GA-2505, which was being driven by respondent No.1-Kasam Khan, driver, rashly and negligently at a high speed, came from the side of Bhiwadi and hit against the Pick-up by coming on the wrong side. Resultantly, both the occupants of the Pick-up received serious injuries. They were removed to Pushpanjali Hospital, Gurgaon, where Rajbir succumbed to the injuries. FIR No.288 dated 14.8.2009 was registered under Sections 279/337/304 IPC, at Police Station Bhiwadi. In this background, the claimants preferred claim petition before the learned Tribunal seeking compensation. The learned Tribunal, vide impugned Award, granted a sum of `5,10,084/- as compensation. Enhancement thereof has been sought by way of the present appeal. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. There is no dispute that the claimants are five in number. The learned Tribunal has applied the deduction towards personal expenses to the extent of 1/3rd. However, this Court feels that the deduction is on the higher side. Keeping in view the number of claimants/dependents and in view of the law laid down by Hon’ble the Apex Court in Smt. Sarla Verma and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, 2 FAO No.619 of 2011 (O&M) 2009(3) RCR (Civil) 77, the deduction is ordered to be read as 1/4th instead of 1/3rd. The learned Tribunal has assessed `3,500/- per month as income of the deceased. Senior Secondary Certificate Ex.P-6 proves his date of birth as 15.07.1982. His age was 27 years at the time of the accident. The learned Tribunal has rightly applied the multiplier of 17. The assessed income and multiplier are just and reasonable. Therefore, the compensation on account of loss of dependency comes to ` 5,35,500/- and the claimants are held entitled to an amount of `59,500/- as enhanced compensation. The compensation granted by the learned Tribunal under the other heads seems just and appropriate. The enhanced amount of `59,500/- shall be payable to the claimants 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 interest @ 7.5% from the date of filing the appeal, till its realisation. The present appeal is partly allowed and the Award of the learned Tribunal dated 28.5.2010, is modified to the extent indicated above. ( JITENDRA CHAUHAN ) 18.11.2011 JUDGE atulsethi Note: Whether to be referred to reporter ? Yes/No 3