Judgment:
FAO No.4112 of 2010 (O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.4112 of 2010 (O&M) Date of decision:
06. 05.2014 Narinder Kaur and others ...Appellants Versus Gurmit Singh and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr. Raman Chawla, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. Ashish Yadav, Advocate for respondent No.3. **** Jitendra Chauhan, J.
(Oral) The instant appeal has been preferred by the appellants- claimants, seeking enhancement of compensation awarded by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Muktsar (for short `the Tribunal'), vide its award dated 18.08.2009.
2. Learned counsel for the appellants submits that the amount of compensation awarded by the learned Tribunal is on the lower side. No amount has been awarded on account of consortium, funeral rites, loss of love and affection etc. The deceased was 52 years old at the time of accident, as such the multiplier of 11 is not at all applicable in the present case. He further argued that the deceased was a agriculturist and was earning Rs.15,000/- per month but the Tribunal has wrongly assessed his income @ Rs.3000/- per month. Sumit Kumar 2014.05.26 17:39 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document FAO No.4112 of 2010 (O&M) -2- 3. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the Tribunal has rightly passed the award in favour of the appellants and prayed for dismissal of the present appeal.
4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record carefully.
5. It is evident from the record that the appellants-claimants were fully dependent on the income of deceased and they have no other source of income. The learned Tribunal fixed the monthly income of the deceased at Rs.3000/- and after making deduction of 1/4th of the amount, the dependency of the claimants comes to Rs.3000/- and the annual dependency come to Rs.27000/-. The deceased was the only bread earner of his family. He left behind his wife, two children and old aged mother. The deceased Jagjit Singh succumbed to injuries when he was going in car being driven by Ram Singh. The testimony of PW-1 Sukhraj, who was an eye witness to the present occurrence duly proved the fact of accident. The driver of the offending truck/trolla has not stepped into the witness box to rebut the claim of the claimants.
6. Perusal of the impugned award reveals that appellants- claimants were awarded with total compensation of Rs.2,97,000/-, which is on the lower side, keeping in view the basic expenses of day to day life. Therefore, keeping in view the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Rajesh Vs. Rajbir Singh, 2013 (3) RCR (Civil) 170, an increase of 15% is awarded towards future prospects. Another amount of Rs. 1 lacs is awarded towards consortium to wife, one lacs to the children in equal share and one lacs to the mother on account of loss of love and affection. Sumit Kumar 2014.05.26 17:39 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document FAO No.4112 of 2010 (O&M) -3- Another amount of Rs.20,000/- is awarded on account of funeral and last rites expenses to the claimants.
7. In view of the above, the appellants-claimants are held entitled to the enhanced compensation over and above the amount already awarded by the learned Tribunal, which shall be payable within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this judgment, failing which, they shall be entitled to interest @ 7.5% p.a., from the date of filing the present appeal, till its realization. With the aforesaid modification in the impugned Award, th present appeal is party allowed. 06.05.2014 (JITENDRA CHAUHAN) sumit.k JUDGE Sumit Kumar 2014.05.26 17:39 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document