HARUN-UL-RASHID, J. The legal heirs of the deceased first claimant are the appellants. The appeal is directed against the award in O.P. (M.V.)No.795 of 2006 on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ernakulam. The first claimant aged 54 years sustained injuries in the road traffic accident took place on 14/7/2005. He was knocked down by the offending car. As a result of the accident, the first claimant sustained severe head injuries and other serious injuries. He was bed ridden for a period of two years and died on 21/8/2007. After his death the legal heirs were impleaded as additional claimants. The Tribunal allowed dependents/claimants to recover a sum of ₹6,68,680/- which includes ₹2,56,680/- towards medical bills.
Ext.A3 postmortem certificate certified that death is due to complication following injuries sustained to the head. Ext.A2 wound certificate certifies serious nature of injuries sustained to different organs of the body including head. The claimant was treated in various hospitals, namely, Ernakulam Medical Centre Hospital, General Hospital, Ernakulam, P.S.Mission Hospital, Medical Trust Hospital, etc. The medical records would show that the original claimant was in a coma after sustaining injuries in the accident and it continued till his death.
2. At the time of the accident the claimant was the head load worker under the Kerala Head Load Workers Welfare Board, Ernakulam. The monthly earning claimed is ₹6,883/-. To prove the income and status of the original claimant, official of the Head Load Workers Welfare Board was examined as PW.2. He proved Ext.A16 certificate dated 3/8/2005. The gross wage of the petitioner is stated as ₹6,883/-. Ext.A21 wages register is also produced to prove the monthly income. Though the claimant adduced evidence in support of his claim that his monthly income is ₹6,883/-, the Tribunal without stating any reason failed to fix the monthly income on the basis of the documents. Instead, the Tribunal took the notional monthly income as ₹3,000/-. In the light of the evidence on record, we are of the view that the Tribunal is not justified in fixing the monthly income as ₹3,000/- especially when the records produced proved the income of several months. Taking into consideration of Ext.A16, Ext.A21 and the evidence of PW.2 we have no hesitation to fix the monthly income as ₹4,500/-. The Tribunal applied the multiplier as 11 and deducted one third amount as personal expenses. Adopting the same method the annual contribution of the family after deducting one-third for personal expenses comes to ₹36,000/-. Therefore, the amount of dependency would come to ₹3,96,000/-. Deducting ₹2,64,000/- awarded by the Tribunal, the claimants are entitled to an additional compensation of ₹1,32,000/-. The Tribunal failed to award compensation for loss of love and affection and loss of consortium. We fix ₹15,000/- and ₹25,000/- respectively under the said heads. For funeral expenses we fix the compensation as ₹5,000/-. Thus the claimant is entitled to an additional compensation of ₹1,77,000/-.
In the result, the appeal is partly allowed. The judgment and decree under appeal is modified. The petitioner is entitled to ₹1,77,000/- as additional compensation with interest @ 8% per annum from the date of petition till the date of realization. The Insurance Company shall deposit the additional compensation amount within a period of two months.
HARUN-UL-RASHID, JUDGE skj ANIL K.NARENDRAN, JUDGE True copy P.A to Judge