Bhagwant Kaur and Another vs Uttam Chand and Others

S.S. Sodhi, J.—The claim in appeal here is by the parents seeking enhanced compensation for the loss suffered by them on account of the death of their young son, Gurvinder Singh, who was killed while sitting on the pillion seat of a scooter which was involved in an accident with a truck.

The accident in this case took place soon after midnight of December 24, 1977 near Laxmi Cinema, Ludhiana. The offending truck was PUL 1584. It was the finding of the Tribunal that the accident had been caused entirely due to the rash and negligent driving of the truck driver. A sum of Rs. 15,360/- was awarded as compensation to Sardar Singh, the father of Gurvinder Singh deceased; the claim of the mother Bhagwant Kaur being held to be barred by time.

The Tribunal clearly fell in error in holding that Bhagwant Kaur, the mother, had failed to establish sufficient cause for the condonation of the delay in filing the present claim application. The claim application, had of necessity to be filed by both the parents and once the Tribunal had come to the finding that there was sufficient cause for the father not filing the claim application in time, it should have logically followed, that it was so also in the case of the mother. Indeed this finding of the Tribunal could not be supported by the counsel for the Respondents. It must accordingly be taken that there was sufficient cause for the condonation of the delay in the filing of the claim application by both the parents of the deceased.

Turning now to the quantum of compensation payable to the claimants, the evidence on record would show that Gurvinder Singh deceased was only 19 years of age at the time of his death. He was a student in B.A. Part I. His parents were both under the age of 44 years when he died. It is now well-established that parents can and do entertain legitimate expectation of pecuniary support from their children, particularly in their old age, when the children are earning members of the family. In the present case, both the parents deposed that the deceased, besides studying, was also engaged in wool business from where his earnings were to the tune of Rs. 500/- per month. There is no documentary evidence to corroborate this statement of the claimants, but there can be no getting away from the fact that the deceased, had the potentiality for earning a reasonable livelihood and also to have provided financial support to his parents, compensation for which, it would be fair and just, to compute at Rs. 30,000/- keeping in view the various factors relevant to this matter as spelt out by the Full Bench in Lachman Singh v. Gurmit Kaur 1979 ACJ 170 (P and H).

The compensation payable to the claimants is accordingly hereby enhanced to Rs. 30,000/- which, they shall be entitled to along with interest @ 12 per cent per annum, from the date of the application to the date of the payment of the amount awarded.

The Respondents shall be jointly and severally liable for the amount awarded.

This appeal is hereby accepted with costs. Counsel''s fee Rs. 300/- .