Krishan Lal and Others vs Suraj Bhan Driver and Others

Amarjeet Chaudhary, J.—This is claimants appeal for enhancement of the compensation on account of the death of Sham Sunder, who died in a road accident on 22.8.1984. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Rohtak, on a claim petition u/s 110-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, vide its award dated 20.8.1985 awarded Rs. 57,600/- as compensation with 12% interest from the date of filing of the claim petition.

In this appeal, the claimants'' prayer is for enhancement of the compensation on the ground that the dependency of the claimants was not calculated properly and a lower multiplier has been applied.

I have considered the submissions of the learned Counsel for the parties and perused the case file.

In the instant case the death of the deceased in the road accident is not in dispute. The only question is with regard to the quantum of compensation.

The position which emerges from the record is that the claimants were dependent on the deceased who was 18 years of age at the time of his death and was running a Dhaba. The monthly income of the deceased could not be less than Rs. 600/- out of which l/3rd i.e. Rs. 200/- he must have been spending on himself and the rest 2/3rd i.e. Rs. 400/- on his family. In this manner, the loss of total dependency will be Rs. 4800/- per annum. Taking into consideration the age of the deceased, I am of the view that a multiplier of 16 has been rightly applied by the Tribunal.

Considering the annual dependency of the deceased at Rs. 4800/- and by applying a multiplier of 16, the total amount of compensation to which the claimants would be entitled to, comes to Rs. 76,800/-. They are also awarded interest at the rate of 12% P.A. from the date of filing of the claim petition till realisation of the entire amount. Out of this compensation, a sum of Rs. 57,600/- already awarded by the Tribunal as compensation is to be adjusted.

Consequently, the appeal is allowed to the extent indicated above.

No order as to costs.