Smt. Kamla Devi and Others vs Kuldip Singh and Others

G.C. Garg, J.—This appeal is directed against the award dated 21.7.1992 of learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Ambala.

In an accident which took place on 31.7.1988 between a Maruti Car and a Truck, Pawan Kumar one of the occupants of the car got injuries and died at the spot. On a claim petition u/s 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act filed by the parents and two unmarried sisters of the deceased, learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal vide its award dated 21.7.1992 awarded a sum of Rs. 60,000/- to appellant Kamla Devi only as she was only held to be Class-I legal heir of the deceased, by assessing the annual dependency at Rs. 6,000/- and by applying a multiplier of ten.

Kamla Devi mother of Pawan Kumar has filed this appeal, dissatisfied with the quantum of compensation whereas the other appellants have filed appeal on the ground that they have been wrongly held not entitled to compensation.

Learned counsel for the appellants only submitted that the deceased at the time of the accident was aged 22 years and he was a diploma holder in Engineering and he was employed with Punjab Motors from where he was getting salary of Rs. 1,200/- per month. Besides, this he was also earning some amount by doing the work as Surveyor. Learned counsel further submitted that in view of the above, learned Tribunal has erred in determining the annual dependency at Rs. 6,000/- only as in the facts of this case, the deceased must have been contributing much higher amount to the family. Learned counsel for the respondents on the other hand, sought to justify the award of the learned Tribunal.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties. The only dispute in this appeal is regarding income of the deceased on the date of his death and the amount that he might be contributing to the family. Learned Tribunal having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and appreciating the evidence led by the parties came to the conclusion that though the salary certificate of Pawan Kumar deceased from the Punjab Motors, i.e. the employer had not been placed on the record but the monthly salary of Pawan Kumar could be reasonably taken to be Rs. 1,200/- as he was a technical hand possessing a diploma in Engineering. Learned Tribunal further came to the conclusion that on the date of accident the deceased was unmarried and was aged 22 years whereas his mother Kamla Devi, appellant No. 1 herein was 57 years of age and if the contribution by Pawan Kumar to his mother would have decreased after his marriage, his salary would have also increased with the passage of time. Learned Tribunal, however, after holding that certainly the income of the deceased on the date of death can be taken @ Rs. 1,200/- per month, determined the dependency of only Rs. 500/- per month of her mother on him. In my view the dependency at the rate of Rs. 500/- per month as determined by the Tribunal, in the circumstances of this case, is on the lower side. The deceased undisputedly was a technical man and thus in my view had a bright future prospectus to earn a much higher amount in the years to come if he had lived. In the circumstances of this case, I thus hold that Pawan Kumar must have been contributing at least a sum of Rs. 650/- per month and would have also contributed this much amount to his family in future. The annual dependency of the appellant will thus work out to be Rs. 7,800/- as against a sum of Rs. 6,000/- as assessed by the learned Tribunal. However, having regard to the age of the appellant Kamla Devi. I see no ground to apply a multiplier higher than ten as was done by the Tribunal as admittedly the age of Kamla Devi on the date of accident was about 57 years. Learned Tribunal has thus rightly applied the multiplier of ten. Thus, applying the multiplier of ten and taking into account the annual dependency at Rs. 7,800/- of appellant Kamla Devi on the deceased, the total amount of compensation payable to her would come to be Rs. 78,000/-. The award of the learned Tribunal is modified to the extent indicated above. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly. No costs. The appellant shall also be entitled to interest on the enhanced amount of compensation at the rate of 12% p.a. from the date of claim application till the date of payment.