Gurdeep Kaur and Others vs Nanak Chand and Others

K. Kannan, J.

1 The appeal is for enhancement of compensation for death of a driver employed in Punjab Roadways. The claimants were widow and three minor children. The income proved was Rs. 1,944/-and the Tribunal took the loss of dependency to be Rs. 1,200/-per month, adopted a multiplier of 16 but finding that he was guilty of contributory negligence, there was an abatement of 50% of their claim and a compensation of Rs. 1,20,200/-was awarded.

2 The contributory negligence was taken in the case of when there was a head-on collision in the middle of the road and the person had died in such a collision. I cannot fault the reasoning of the Tribunal and I would uphold the finding regarding contributory negligence. The counsel appearing for the Appellants points out that he (deceased) was employed in government service with the security of tenure and reasonable increase of earnings must have been taken note of. According to him, the Tribunal must have also provided for loss of consortium and loss to estate. Even the deduction made for personal expenses must have been less than of what was made by the Tribunal. I will adopt the formula provided by the Hon''ble Supreme Court in Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, and provide for a 30% increase, make a deduction of 1/4th and adopt a multiplier of 14 instead of 16 as taken by the Tribunal. I will award Rs. 5,000/-towards loss of consortium for the wife and Rs. 2,500/-each for the minor children towards of loss of love and affection. I will retain the compensation of Rs. 10,000/-for funeral rites and take it as accommodating the claim of loss of estate also. The total amount of compensation will be Rs. 3,50,100/-and if a contributory negligence were to be taken note of, there shall an abatement of 50% and the amount payable will be Rs. 1,75,050/-. I tabulate the claim for compensation for the claimants as follows:

Sr. No. Heads of claim Tribunal High Court Amount (Rs.) Amount (Rs.) 1 Income 1944 2 Add,% of increase 30%/50% - 30; 3 Average monthly income x 12 2600 4 Deduction1 200 1/4 5 Multiplicand 14,400 23,400 6 Multiplier 16 14 7 Loss of dependence - 3,27,600 8 Medical expenses - - 9 Loss of consortium - 12,500 10 Loss to estate - 5,000 11 Funeral expenses 10,000 5,000 Total 1,20,200 1,75,050

The amount, found in excess over what was determined by the Tribunal, shall attract interest at 6% from the date of petition till date of payment. The counsel for the claimants states on instructions that the compensation could be awarded only between the claimants 1 and 4 since the daughters have been married away. The enhanced portion of compensation shall, therefore, become payable only to Appellants 1 and

The appeal is allowed to the above terms.