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Judgment
B. Sreenivase Gowda, J.—This appeal is by the claimant seeking enhancement of compensation awarded by the Tribunal
Heard, the appeal k admitted and with the
consent of the learned Counsel appealing 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.
As there m no dispute regarding death of the deceased in a road traffic accident occurred, on. 23.06.5008 due to rash and negligent driving of the KSRTC bus bearing registration No, KA-09-F-2855 by its driver and liability of the KSRTC, the only point that arises for my consideration in the appeal is;
whether quantum of 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 per using 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 i.e. on the lower side and hence it is required to be enhanced.
The deceased was aged about 22 years at the time of his death in the accident. The claimant is the mother of the deceased. The claimant in support of her contention that the deceased was working as a tractor driver and earning a sum of Rs 8,000/- per month except examining herself as PW-1 has not produced any other documents establishing his income and profession. Therefore, considering his age as 22 years and year of accident as 2008 and future prospectus of life, his income can be assessed at Rs. 4,000/- per month as against Rs. 3,000/- per month assessed by the Tribunal. Since, the claimant is a bachelor, 50% of the his income has to be deducted towards his personal expenses and multiplier has to be applied based on the age of the mother, who is aged 50 years and multiplier applicable to her age groups is 13, Therefore, the loss of dependency works out to Rs. 3,12,000/- (4000 � 1/2 � 13 � 12} and if awarded as against Rs. 2,16,000/- awarded by the Tribunal,
Further, it is just and proper to award a. sum of Rs. 10,000/- towards toss of love and ''affection'', Rs. 10,000/- towards loss of estate'' and Rs. 10,000/- towards transportation of dead body and funeral expenses and it is awarded as against Rs. 20,000/- awarded by the Tribunal towards Conventional heads.
Thus, the claimant is entitled for the following compensation:
a) Loss of dependency Rs. 3,12,000
b) Loss of love and affection Rs, 10.000
c) Loss of estate Rs. 10,000
d) Transportation of dead body
funeral expenses Rs. 10,000
TOTAL Rs. 3,42,000
Accordingly, the appeal is allowed in part. The judgment and award passed by the Tribunal is modified to the extent stated herein above. The claimant is entitled for a total compensation of Rs. 3,42,000/- as against Rs. 2,36,000/- awarded by the Tribunal with interest at 6% p.a. on the enhanced compensation of Rs. 1,06,000/- from the date of claim petition till the date of realisation exscinding the interest for the delayed period of 308 days in filing the appeal.
The KSRTC is directed to deposit me, enhanced compensation amount with interest within two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment excluding interest for the delayed period of 308 days in filing the appeal,
Out of the enhanced compensation, Rs. 75,000/- with proportionate interest is ordered to be invested in feed deposit in the name of claimant in any Nationalised Bank/Scheduled Bank/ Post Office for a period of 9 years. Remaining amount with proportionate interest is ordered to be released in favour of the claimant Immediately after the deposit.
No order as to costs.