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8. The measure of damage is the pecuniary loss suffered and is likely to be suffered by each dependent. Thus "except where there is express statutory direction to the contrary, the damages to be awarded to a dependent of a deceased person under the Fatal Accidents Acts must take into account any pecuniary benefit accruing to that dependent in consequence of the death of the deceased. It is the net loss on balance which constitutes the measure of damages." (Per Lord Macmillan in Davies v. PowelP.) Lord Wright in the same case said, "The actual pecuniary loss of each individual entitled to sue can only be ascertained by balancing on the one hand the loss to him of the future pecuniary benefit, and on the other any pecuniary advantage which from whatever source comes to him by reason of the death". These words of Lord Wright were adopted as the principle applicable also under the Indian Act in Gobald Motor Service Ltd. v. R. M. K. Veluswami4 where the Supreme Court stated that the general principle is that the actual pecuniary loss can be ascertained only by balancing on the one hand the loss to the claimants of the future pecuniary benefit and on the other any pecuniary advantage which from whatever source comes to them by reason of the death, that is, the balance of loss and gain to a dependent by the death, must be ascertained.

14. The considerations generally relevant in the selection of multiplicand and multiplier were adverted to by Lord Diplock in his speech in Mallett case6 where the deceased was aged 25 and left behind his widow of about the same age and three minor children. On the question of selection of multiplicand Lord Diplock observed:

"The starting point in any estimate of the amount of the 'dependency' is the annual value of the material benefits provided for the dependents out of the earnings of the deceased at the date of his death. But ... there are many factors which might have led to variations up or down in the future. His earnings might have increased and with them the amount provided by him for his dependents. They might have diminished with a recession in trade or he might have had spells of unemployment. As his children grew up and became independent the proportion of his earnings spent on his dependents would have been likely to fall. But in considering the effect to be given in the award of damages to possible variations in the dependency there are two factors to be borne in mind. The first is that the more remote in the future is the anticipated change the less confidence there can be in the chances of its occurring and the smaller the allowance to be made for it in the assessment. The second is that as a matter of the arithmetic of the calculation of present value, the later the change takes place the less will be its effect upon the total award of damages. Thus at interest rates of 5 (1951) AC 601: (1951) 2 All ER 448 (PC) 6Mallettv.McMonagle,(1970)AC166:(1969)2AIIER178(HL) 41/2 per cent the present value of an annuity for 20 years of which the first ten years are at pound 100 per annum and the second ten years at pound 200 per annum, is about 12 years' purchase of the arithmetical average annuity of pound 150 per annum, whereas if the first ten years are at pound 200 per annum and the second ten years at pound 100 per annum the present value is about 14 years' purchase of the arithmetical mean of pound 150 per annum. If therefore the chances of variations in the 'dependency' are to be reflected in the multiplicand of which the years' purchase is the multiplier, variations in the dependency which are not expected to take place until after ten years should have only a relatively small effect in increasing or diminishing the 'dependency' used for the purpose of assessing the damages."
The assessment is split into two parts. The first part comprises damages for the period between death and trial. The multiplicand is multiplied by the number of years which have elapsed between those two dates. Interest at one-half the short-term investment rate is also awarded on that multiplicand. The second part is damages for the period from the trial onwards. For that period, the number of years which have elapsed between the death and the trial is deducted from a multiplier based on the number of years that the expectancy would probably have lasted; central to that calculation is the probable length of the deceased's working life at the date of death."

18. Here we may say a word on Pickett v. British Rail Engineering Ltd.' referred to by the High Court. In an action for damages for personal injuries, the House of Lords overruling the decision of the Court of Appeal in Oliver v.Ashman 7 held that damages for loss of future earnings should include the whole period of earning life and not merely the post-accident expectancy. In other words, the plaintiff was held entitled to claim damages for lost earnings of lost years when the accident shortened his expectation of working life. On the same lines, the House of Lords in Gammell v. Wilson8 held that in addition to conventional and moderate damages for loss of expectation of life, damages for loss to the estate should include damages for loss of earnings of the lost years. Gammell case8 was followed by a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Ramesh Chandra v. M.P. State Road Transport Corpn.9 It was pointed out that the decision in Gammell case 8 was in line with the Supreme Court's decision in Gobald Motor Service Ltd. v. R. M. K. Veluswami4 in which it was held that "the capitalised value of his income subject to relevant deductions would be loss caused to the estate of the deceased". The annual loss to the estate was computed in Gammell case8 to be the amount that the deceased would have been able to save, spend or distribute after meeting the cost of his living, and damages for loss to the estate were computed after applying, a suitable multiplier to the annual loss. So, in computation of annual loss the amount that the deceased would have spent on dependents was not taken into account. The result of such a computation was that in cases where the dependents were not the persons to whom the estate devolved, there was likelihood of duplication of damages. To remove this risk, Parliament amended in 1982 the Law Reforms (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1934, by providing that damages recoverable for the benefit of the estate will not include any damages for loss of income in respect of any period after the victim's death (Administration of Justice Act, 1982 Section 4; Winfield & Jolowicz, Tort, Twelfth Edn. pp. 659-60).