Smt. Jasbir Kaur And Anr. vs Sh. Ashok Kumar Sehgal And Anr.
2003 Latest Caselaw 1294 Del

JUDGMENT

S.K. Mahajan, J.

1. ADMIT.

2. Matter being short, the same has been heard with the consent of the parties and disposed of by this order.

3. The appellant has filed this appeal for enhancement of compensation for the death of the husband of appellant No. 1 and father of appellants 2 to 5 who died in a road accident caused by the rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle by its driver. The two grounds urged by learned counsel for the appellant for enhancement of compensation are - (1) that the future prospects in the life and career of the deceased have not been considered by the tribunal; and (2) in place of the multiplier of 11 which should have been applied in terms of the Second Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act, the tribunal has applied the multiplier of 8.

4. The tribunal on the basis of the material on record has taken the income of the deceased at Rs. 5,500/- per month. The deceased was 52 years of age and if not later he could not retire earlier than he had attained the age of 58 years. At the time of arriving at the loss of dependency to the family of the deceased, it is now well-settled that the tribunal is required to consider the future prospects in the life and career of the deceased. The deceased was employed in a company and had a stable job and was getting a salary of Rs. 5,500/- per month as has been held by the tribunal. As he had still sufficient number of years to serve in the company, this court applying the principles laid down in Sarla Dixit and another Versus Balwant Yadav and others 1996 ACJ 581 will not be in error in estimating the income of the deceased at the end of his career at Rs. 7,500/- per month. The average income of the deceased would thus come to Rs. 6,500/- per month. Deducting 1/3rd from this towards the personal expenses of the deceased, the loss of dependency to the family would come to Rs. 4,400/- (Approximately) per month or say Rs. 52,000/- per year. Since the age of the deceased was 52 years, the correct multiplier to be applied in terms of the Second Schedule to the Motor Vehicles Act is 11 and not 8 as has been applied by the tribunal. Applying the multiplier of 11, the total loss of dependency to the family would come to Rs. 5,72,000/-. Adding to this the non-pecuniary damages of Rs. 20,000/- as has been awarded by the tribunal, the total compensation payable to the family would come to Rs. 5,92,000/-.

5. I, accordingly, allow this appeal, modify the award and enhance the compensation payable to the appellants to Rs. 5,92,000/-. The appellants will also be entitled to interest @ 9% per annum on the enhanced compensation from the date of filing the application before the tribunal till payment.