Harbans Lal And Others vs United India Insurance Co. Ltd. ...
2021 Latest Caselaw 1685 j&K

                                                            Sr. No. 74

     HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
                     AT JAMMU
                                              MA No. 554/2014

Harbans Lal and others                  .....Appellant(s)/Petitioner(s)..
                    Through: Mr. V. Bhushan Gupta, Advocate.

               Vs

United India Insurance Co. Ltd. and       ....Respondent(s)
another

                    Through: Mr. D.S.Chouhan, Advocate.

Coram: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PUNEET GUPTA, JUDGE
                                  ORDER

1. The learned Tribunal has awarded compensation to the tune of

Rs. 3,76,000/- along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date

of filing of petition till the realization of the amount in favour of

the claimants-appellants.

2. Learned counsel for the appellants during the course of arguments

has submitted that the Tribunal has wrongly applied the multiplier

as the age of the mother of the deceased has been taken into

consideration. Infact the age of the deceased was required to be

taken into account while applying the multiplier in the matter.

3. Learned counsel for the respondent-Insurance Company has

argued that the Tribunal has not erred in applying the multiplier

while passing the award.

4. The perusal of the award reveals that the Tribunal has considered

the age of the younger parent that is the age of the mother of the

deceased under the head loss of dependency and further though

the Tribunal finds the multiplier of 15 as suitable one has slashed

it down to 13 keeping in view the uncertainties of life.

5. The learned counsel for the appellants has raised his argument on

the strength of the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Apex Court in

the celebrated case of Sarla Verma reported in (2009) 6 SCC 121.

6. The court does not find any reason not to apply the ratio of the

aforesaid judgment coupled with what has been held in case of

Pranay Sethi, reported in (2017) 16 SCC 680 in the present case.

In terms of the judgment of 2017 (supra), the age of the deceased

is required to be taken into consideration while applying the

multiplier. As the age of the deceased at the time of the accident

was 21 and the same is not in dispute, therefore, the multiplier of

18 instead of 13 as applied by the Tribunal is required to be

applied in the case in hand.

7. Thus, the compensation on account of modified multiplier

keeping in view the earning to which the deceased would have

contributed to the family comes to Rs. 27,000/- (as awarded by

the Tribunal) x 5 = Rs.1,35,000/-. Thus, the total compensation to

which the petitioners are held entitled to on account of loss of

dependency comes to Rs. 3,51,000/- + Rs. 1,35,000/- =

Rs.4,86,000/-. The compensation awarded on account of other

head remains the same as held by the Tribunal.

8. The appeal is allowed to the above extent.

9. Disposed of accordingly.

(Puneet Gupta) Judge Jammu 15.12.2021 Pawan Chopra

PAWAN CHOPRA Whether the order is speaking? Yes/No 2021.12.21 10:37 Whether the order is reportable? Yes/No I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document