Punjab-Haryana High Court
Jagwanti Devi Widow And Ors. vs Paramjit Singh And Ors. on 4 May, 1994
Equivalent citations: II(1995)ACC410, 1994ACJ1310, (1994)107PLR575
JUDGMENT Amarjeet Chaudhary, J.
1. In this appeal filed by the claimants, the prayer is for the enhancement of compensation. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ambala vide its award dated 26.7.1991 had awarded a sum of Rs. 78,000/- as compensation to the claimants with 12% interest, which was ordered to be shared equally.
2. The challenge to the award is that the income of the deceased and the dependency of the claimants have not been properly determined. Learned counsel for the appellants contends that it has been proved on record that the deceased was earning Rs. 1500/- per month and the claimants had also produced certificate of income but the Tribunal had erred in assessing the monthly income of the deceased and the dependency of the claimants on him.
3. Learned counsel for the appellant further contends that the deceased was 50 years of age at the time of death and as such a multiplier of 16 should have been applied.
4. I have considered the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and perused the paper book.
5. The claimants had produced income certificate of the deceased issued by the employer wherein salary of the deceased has been shown to be Rs. 850/- and Rs. 250/- has been shown as over-time income. In this view of the matter, I am of the considered view that the deceased must be spending 1/3 out of his income as his personal expenses. After deducting 1/3 from the income, the monthly dependency of the claimants on the deceased comes to Rs. 735/-. The annual dependency of the claimants comes to Rs. 8820/-. The deceased was 50 years of age at the time of accident and as such multiplier of 10 is a suitable multiplier. By applying the multiplier of 10, the total compensation to which the claimants are held entitled comes to Rs. 88820/- with 12% interest from the date of filing of claim petition till its realisation. Out of this amount, the compensation already awarded is to be adjusted. The compensation amount is ordered to be shared equally. The award of the Tribunal is modified to the extent indicated above. No costs.