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Judgment
Pius C. Kuriakose, J
The legal heirs of a person who is claimed to have been a staff in COD, Thamarassery and lost his life in a Road Traffic Accident being his parents, sister and younger brother are aggrieved by the quantum of compensation awarded to them by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal. In the memorandum of appeal it is urged that the compensation awarded under various heads, particularly the heads - loss of dependency, funeral expenses, loss of love and affection is quite inadequate.
We have heard the submissions of Smt.Lekshmi Swaminathan, the learned counsel for the appellants and Sri. Babu Joseph Kuruvathazha, the learned Standing Counsel for the 2nd respondent KSRTC who have been made liable for payment of compensation.
Smt.Lekshmi would make submissions based on the grounds raised in the memorandum of appeal.
The submission of Sri.Babu was that what has been awarded by the Tribunal is quite reasonable.
Only two of the submissions made by Smt.Lekshmi have some appeal to us. The first is that the deduction of = towards personal expenditure is not justified. The second is that towards funeral expenses the full amount claimed should have been granted.
Having regard to those submissions which are not accepted by Sri.Babu, we feel that the loss of dependency can be re-computed making deduction of /3 instead of the deduction of = presently made. Re-computing dependency compensation in that way it will be seen that the appellants will become eligible for Rs. 78,000/- towards dependency compensation. We also feel that towards funeral expenses, the entire amount claimed i.e Rs. 5,000/- should have been granted. This means that the appellants are entitled for a further sum of Rs. 2,000/- on that count and we award to the appellants a sum of Rs. 2,000/- more towards funeral expenses. The award of the Tribunal on all other heads are quite reasonable and there is no warrant for interference.
Result is that the appeal is allowed awarding Rs. 80,000/- more to the appellants towards compensation on various heads. This amount will carry interest at the same rate as is awarded by the Tribunal in its award. No costs.