Smt. Kamlesh and Another vs Raj Kumar and Others

N.K. Aggarwal, J.—This is an appeal by Smt. Kamlesh and Ram Bhajan, parents of the deceased. Seerna, unmarried daughter of the appellants, died in a motor accident on January 30, 1996. A claim petition u/s 166, Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 was filed by the parents of the deceased against the owner and driver of the offending truck and also against the Insurance Company. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Faridabad (the Tribunal), after holding the driver of the truck liable for rash and negligent driving and the accident, awarded compensation of Rs. 50,000/- to the parents of the deceased.

The deceased was aged 22 years at the time of the accident. The Tribunal took the view that the deceased being an unmarried girl, was not likely to support her parents after her marriage. Her income, if any, would have then diverted to the family of her husband.

Shri R.K. Jain, learned counsel for the appellants, has argued that the compensation of Rs. 50,000/- against the claim petition seeking compensation of Rs. 5,00,000/- is wholly unsatisfactory and unjustified. It is not correct to assume that the deceased being of 22 years of age would not have supported her old parents after marriage. It was also possible that the girl would not have married. A suitable multiplier should have been adopted to calculate the amount of compensation on the basis of the annual dependency of the parents on the deceased. It was not at all appropriate to allow a lump sum amount of Rs. 50,000/- without looking to the dependency of the parents on the deceased and her own age. The deceased was working in M/s Glazy Instruments (P) Ltd. and was earning Rs. 1,600/- per month as salary.

After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, we are of the view that looking to the age of the parents of the deceased and the age of the deceased herself, it would be appropriate if a multiplier of ''12'' is adopted, dependency of the parents on their daughter is determined at Rs. 1,000/- p.m. for the period prior to the marriage of the deceased and the multiplier of ''3'' is adopted, thus, arriving at a compensation of Rs. 36,000/-. Fixing the dependency at Rs. 500/- per month after the marriage and adopting a multiplier of ''9'' for the period after marriage, compensation is fixed at Rs. 54,000/-. The total amount of compensation is, thus, fixed at Rs. 90,000/-.

Appeal is partly allowed. Order of the Tribunal dated February 5, 1998, is modified and an amount of Rs. 90,000/- is allowed as compensation to the appellants. The respondents shall pay the amount of compensation so determined to the appellants alongwith interest @ 12 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition to the date of payment. No order as to costs.