Judgment:
FAO No.2458 of 2003 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.2458 of 2003 Date of Decision.19.05.2014 Kawaljit Kaur (since deceased) through LRs and others ......Appellants Versus Baldev Singh and others ......Respondents Present: Mr. B.S. Jaswal, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. R.C. Gupta, Advocate for the insurance company. CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN1 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.
1. The appeal is for enhancement of compensation for death of a male aged 46 years. The claimants were widow and two sons. The widow has expired during the pendency of the petition itself and the claim was prosecuted by two sons only. The Tribunal assessed a compensation of ` 4,49,650/-.
2. Since the death of one of the claimants had occurred during the pendency of the petition itself, the extent to which she would have such benefit for her life time alone will become possible for assessment as regards the widow's share. As regards sons' share, who were major sons, it should be taken that they would have obtained a benefit of the estate as legal representatives.
3. I find the assessment of the Tribunal to be deficient only in Kamboj Pankaj Kumar 2014.05.20 11:30 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh FAO No.2458 of 2003 -2- so far as it did not provide for all the medical expenses which he would have incurred and brought through bills. I have totalled up the bills which had been marked and not exhibited as evidence only because the persons who had issued the bills had not been examined. It is quite an unnecessary exercise where it was clearly brought out that the deceased had to be treated for some time in the hospital before he succumbed to injuries. The total bills add up to ` 1,22,611/- which I will round off to ` 1,23,000/-. The deceased was a senior clerk and was also an agriculturist. His income was shown to be ` 4724/-. I will add his contribution to the agricultural income at another ` 1250/- and take ` 6000/- as his monthly income. I will rework the compensation and tabulate the same as under:- FATAL ACCIDENT Charan Singh 27.09.1998 Age 46 years Occupation Senior Clerk+agriculturist Claimants Two sons, widow died during pendency of petition Heads of claim Tribunal High Court Sl. No.Amount Amount (Rs.) (Rs) 1 Income 4724 6000 2 Add, % of increase 30% 7800 3 Less, Deduction 50% 1/3 3900 4 Multiplicand (annualized by 46800 multiplying 12) 5 Multiplier 10 10 6 Loss of dependence 3,78,000 4,68,000 7 Medical Expenses & Transportation 61,650 1,30,000 8 Loss of Consortium 5000 9 Loss of love and affection 10 Loss to estate 5000 11 Funeral expenses 5000 5000 Total 4,49,650 6,08,000 4. Kamboj Pankaj Kumar 2014.05.20 11:30 The total compensation payable shall be ` 6,08,000/-. In the I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh FAO No.2458 of 2003 -3- manner of working out the compensation, I have made a deduction of half instead of 1/3rd in view of the death of the widow during the proceedings. Although the multiplier suggested in Sarla Verma Vs. DTC20096) SCC121for a person aged 46 years is 13, I will take the multiplier as 10 as taken by the Tribunal. The matter would have been different if the widow was alive till the disposal of the case in which case the assessment would itself be taken as the estate of the widow which would have been inherited by the sons but since she had died during the pendency of the petition, there is no scope for providing for dependence taking widow's own life span at 70 years. The amount shall be distributed equally amongst the claimants. The liability shall be on the insurer in the manner determined by the Tribunal.
5. The award stands modified and the appeal is allowed to the above extent. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE May 19, 2014 Pankaj* Kamboj Pankaj Kumar 2014.05.20 11:30 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh