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Judgment
B. Sreenivase Gowda, J.—This appeal is by the claimants for enhancement of compensation awarded by the Tribunal.
Heard the appeal is admitted and with the consent of the learned Counsel appearing for the parties, it is taken up for final disposal.
For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to as they are referred to in the claim petition before the tribunal.
The brief facts of the case:
On 02.06.2006, when the deceased Marulasiddaiah was travelling in a motorcycle bearing registration No. KA-16/L-5780 as a pillion rider from Davanagere to Sirigere it dashed to roadside divider due to rash and negligent riding of motorcycle by its rider near Hulupanakatte on NH-4. As a result, he fell down and sustained grievous injuries and died at the spot. Hence, his parents and younger sister filed a claim petition before the MACT, Chitradurga seeking compensation of Rs. 6,00,000/-. The Tribunal awarded them a compensation of Rs. 2,49,000/- with interest at 6% p.a.
As there is no dispute regarding death of the deceased in a road traffic accident, negligence and liability of the insurer of the offending vehicle the only point that arises for my consideration in the appeal is:
whether the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is just and reasonable or does it call for enhancement?
After hearing the learned Counsel appearing for the parties and perusing the judgment and award of the Tribunal, I am of the view that the compensation awarded by the Tribunal is not just and reasonable, it is on the lowest side and hence it is required to lie enhanced.
The deceased was aged about 21 years at the time of his death in the accident as evident from the postmortem report Ex.P.4. The claimants are his parents and younger sister. The claimants in support of their contention that the deceased was working in a bakery and also doing agriculture and earning a sum of Rs,5,000/- per month have examined the first claimant and owner of the bakery as PWs.1 and 3 and have produced license of the bakery standing in the name of FW3. Therefore, considering his age as 21 years arid year of accident as 2006, his income can be assessed at Rs. 4,000/- per month as against Rs. 3,000/-per month assessed by the Tribunal. As he was a bachelor 50% of income of the deceased has to be deducted towards his personal expenses. The multiplier has to be applied on the basis of the age of his mother. The age of the mother is 45 years and the multiplier applicable to her age group is 14. Therefore, the ''lose of dependency'' works out to Rs. 3,36,000/- (4000 � 1/2 � 12 � 14) and it is awarded as against Rs. 2,34,000/- awarded by the Tribunal.
Further, it is just and proper to award a sum of RS. 10,000/- towards loss of estate, Rs. 10,000/- towards transportation of dead body and funeral expenses and Rs. 5,000/- towards loss of love arid affection of 3rd claimant who is the younger sister of the deceased, and it is awarded as against Rs. 15,000/- awarded by the Tribunal towards ''conventional heads''.
Thus, the claimants are entitled for the following compensation:
a) Loss of dependency - Rs. 3,36,000 b) Loss of love and affection - Rs. 5,000 d) Loss of estate - Rs. 10,000 e) Transportation of asad body funeral expenses - Rs. 10,000 TOTAL Rs. 3,61,000
Accordingly, the appeal is allowed in part. The judgment and award passed by the Tribunal is modified to the extent stated herein above. The claimants are entitled for a total compensation of Rs. 3,61,000/- as against Rs. 2,49,000/- awarded by the Tribunal with interest at 6% p.a. on the enhanced compensation of Rs. 1,12,000/- from the date of claim petition till the date of realisation.
The Insurance Company is directed to deposit the enhanced compensation amount with interest within two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
Out of the enhanced compensation, Rs. 80,000/- with proportionate interest m ordered to be invested in fixed deposit in the name of second claimant who is the mother of the deceased in any Nationalised Bank/Scheduled Bank/Post Office for a period of 9 years renewable once in 3 years with a right to withdraw the interest periodically. Remaining amount with proportionate interest is ordered to be released in favour of all the claimants in equal proportion immediately after the deposit.
No order as to costs.