Smt. Santosh Rani Khanna vs Sh. Anand Singh
2003 Latest Caselaw 819 Del

JUDGMENT

S.K. Mahajan, J.

1. ADMIT.

2. With the consent of the parties, matter has been heard and disposed of by this order.

3. By this appeal the appellants who are the wife and sons of Mr. Satpal Khanna, are seeking enhancement of the compensation for the death of Mr. Satpal Khanna who had died in a road accident due to the rash and negligent driving of a truck by its driver. The only point raised in this appeal is that the deceased at the time of death was 46 years of age and as per the Second Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act, the correct multiplier to be applied for arriving at the compensation payable to the appellants was 15, however, the Tribunal has applied the multiplier of only 9 to arrive at the compensation payable to the appellants.

4. After having heard learned counsel for the parties, I am in agreement with the appellants that the deceased being of 45 years of age, the Tribunal ought to have applied the multiplier of 15 and not 9 so as to assess the compensation payable to the appellants. It is now well settled that unless there are good reasons to differ, the Courts at the time of grant of compensation should take recourse to the Second Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act. Applying the multiplier of 15 to the loss of dependency of Rs.793/- per month, the appellants will be entitled to a sum of Rs.1,42,740/- as loss of dependency. Adding to this a sum of Rs.2,000/- by way of funeral expenses and Rs.10,000/- as compensation for loss of consortium, the appellants would be entitled to the total compensation of Rs.1,54,740/-.

5. I, accordingly, allow this appeal and modify the award and direct that the appellants will be entitled to Rs.1,54,740/- by way of compensation. The appellants will also be entitled to interest @ 9% on the enhanced compensation from the date of filing petition before the Tribunal till the date of realisation. With these observations, the appeal stands disposed of.