IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.4958 of 2004(O&M) Date of decision:14.02.2011 Chaman Lal and another ....Appellants versus Vikas and others ....Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: Mr. Ashish Aggarwal, Advocate, for the appellants. Mr. Kulbhushan Sharma, Advocate, for respondents 1 and 2. Mr. Pardeep Goyal, Advocate, for respondent No.3. None for respondent No.4. ---- 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest ? ---- K.Kannan, J. (Oral) 1. The appeal is for enhancement of claim for death of a boy, aged 22 years, who was said to be a student, doing a post graduate in computer science. The father was aged 56 years and I would assume the mother was less than 55 years. The Tribunal took the notional income at Rs.15,000/- and granted a compensation of Rs.99,500/-. The learned counsel states that appropriate compensation must have been to assume what a person of his educational standing would have earned and what FAO No.4958 of 2004(O&M) - 2 - expectation of the family could have been. A relative better economical and social status with the prospect of higher education and greater expectation for family have been always treated to be relevant in cases that the Hon'ble Supreme Court has dealt with, particularly in M.S.Grewal Versus Deep Chand Sood-2002(1) RCR (Civil) 214; Lata Wadhwa Versus State of Bihar-2001(8) SCC 197 and in Priya Vasant Kalgutkar Versus Murad Shaikh and others-2010 AIR (SC) 40. All the above cases related to non-income earning persons, who were students in schools. I would, under the circumstances, modify the income as that he would have earned, he being a post graduate student in computer science. The maximum amount provided under Schedule-II, could be fair estimation for the deceased, for that again spells out the income band relatively for lower income status namely Rs.15,000/- to Rs.40,000/-. I will take, therefore, the annual income at Rs.40,000/- and assess the compensation and take the multiplier of 11 and make a deduction of 50% from the income. As regards medical expenses incurred for treatment of the deceased against the bills totalling Rs.23,139/-, the Tribunal had awarded Rs.15,000/-, I increase it to the amount covered by bills. The compensation that could be awarded to the appellants is tabulated below:- Sr.No. Heads of claim Tribunal High Court Amount (Rs.) Amount (Rs.) Age:22 Occupation: Student Claimants: Parents (56+50) 1. Income 15,000 40,000 2. Add, % of increase 30%/50% - - 3. Deduction 1/3 1/2 FAO No.4958 of 2004(O&M) - 3 - 4. Multiplicand 20,000 5. Multiplier 6 11 6. Loss of dependency 2,20,000 (20,000 x 11) 7. Medical expenses 15,000 23,140 8. Loss to estate & 4,500 4,500 Funeral expenses _____ _______ Total 99,500 2,47,640 2. The amount in excess over what has been determined by the Tribunal already shall attract interest at 6% from the date of petition till date of payment. 3. The amount shall be distributed equally between the appellants and the liability shall be in the same manner as determined by the Tribunal. 4. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 14.02.2011 sanjeev