1. By way of this appeal the appellants- original claimants have challenged the judgment and award dated 30th September, 2000, passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Auxi.), Mehsana, in M.A.C.P No. 1375 of 1995, whereby the tribunal has awarded compensation in the sum of Rs.60,400/- to the claimants along with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till realization.
2. The brief facts leading to filing of this appeal are that in an vehicular accident one Gokabhai Chelabhai Chaudhari expired, therefore, the legal heirs of the deceased filed claim petition being M.A.C.P. No.1375 of 1995 before the Tribunal for compensation. The learned Tribunal after hearing learned advocates for both the parties and after recording the evidence decided the claim petitions and passed the award as stated herein above against which the present appeal is preferred by the appellants.
3. I have heard learned advocate for the appellant and perused the materials produced on record. I find that the Tribunal has committed an error in assessing the income of the deceased. The Tribunal ought to have assessed annual notional income at Rs.15000/-, as per the Second scheduled. After deducting 1/3 amount towards personal expenses, the annual dependency comes to Rs.10,000/-. In view of the decision of the Apex Court in the case of Sarla Varma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation Ltd. and Anr. reported in 2009(6) SCC, 121, multiplier of 13 is just and proper. If multiplier of 13 is adopted, the dependency comes to Rs. 1,30,000/-/.
4. Over and above, the claimants are also entitled to Rs.10,000/- under the head of loss of estate, Rs.10,000/- under the head of loss of consortium and Rs.5000/- under the head of funeral expenses, as per the decision of the Sarla Varma(supra). Thus, in all the claimants are entitled to Rs.1,55,000/-. Since, the Tribunal has attributed the negligence on the part of the deceased to the extent of 50%, the claimants are only entitled for 50% amount. Therefore, the claimants are entitled to Rs.77,500/-, whereas the Tribunal has awarded only Rs.60,400/-.
5. In that view of the matter, the appellants are entitled to additional amount of Rs.17,100/-
along with interest at the rate of 7 ½ per cent per annum from the date of filing of the application till realization.
6. The judgement and award of the tribunal is modified to the aforesaid extent. The decree be drawn accordingly. present appeal is partly allowed.
[K.S.JHAVERI,J.] pawan