This appeal is at the instance of the claimants, the parents of the victim and is directed against the award dated December 31, 1994 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Main), Junagadh in MAC Petition No.608 of 1988 thereby awarding a total sum of Rs.54,000/- as compensation for the death of the victim out of which Rs.15,000/- had earlier been paid on the basis of no fault liability. By the award impugned, the Tribunal, therefore, directed the owner and the insurer to pay the balance Rs.39,000/- in favour of the claimants. Being dissatisfied, the claimants have come up with the present appeal.
None appears on behalf of the respondents.
Mr Malik, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants has restricted his submissions on the quantum of compensation alleging that there was no justification of restricting the amount only to Rs.54,000/- on the basis of age of the father of the victim. According to Mr Malik, this is a fit case where a sum of Rs.1,73,000/- ought to have been awarded.
After hearing the learned counsel for the appellants and after going through the materials on record, I find that undisputedly victim was a Hindu and thus according to Hindu Succession Act, appellant No.2 was the sole heir and legal representative and, therefore, she was only entitled to claim compensation and not the father. The Tribunal below, therefore, erroneously considered the age of the father while assessing the amount of compensation.
In the present case, the fact that the accident occurred due to negligence on the part of the driver of the offending vehicle has been well established. No cross objection or counter appeal has been preferred on behalf of either the Insurance Company or the other opponents. Therefore, in this appeal we are only concerned with the amount of compensation.
In the present case, it has been established that the victim was aged 20 years and that he used to earn Rs.750/- as salary and Rs.150/- as D.A. charge. Therefore, the approximate income was Rs.900/-. If we deduct one-third amount for personal expenditure of the deceased, the amount would come to Rs.600/- and thus yearly dependency will come to Rs.7200/-. In my opinion, having regard to the age of the mother, namely, 45 years, it is a fit case where multiplier of 15 ought to have been applied and thus the amount would come to Rs.1,08,000/-. In addition to the said amount, a further sum of Rs.20,000/- should be awarded as compensation for loss to the estate and Rs.1600/- for funeral expenditure which has already been awarded by the Tribunal. Thus the total amount comes to Rs.1,29,600/-. A sum of Rs.15,000/- having already been paid under no fault liability, appellant No.2 is entitled to get the balance amount of Rs.1,14,600/- with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of filing of the application till December 31, 1999 and at the rate of 8% per annum from January 1, 2000 till actual deposit of the amount. The Insurance Company is directed to pay the balance enhanced amount in accordance with this judgment within two months from today.
The appeal is thus allowed to the extent indicated above. In the facts and circumstances of the case, there would be no order as to costs.
(BHASKAR BHATTACHARYA, ACTING CJ.) zgs/-