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Judgment
S.S. Sodhi, J
The appeal here is by the mother-Dalbir Kaur seeking enhanced compensation for the death of her 19-years old son Balwinder Singh, who was killed in an accident with the U. P. State Bridge Corporation Ltd. truck UTE-5540. This happened on March 23, 1978 in Tehsil Batala in District Gurdaspur. The compensation being Rs. 7200/-.
In the matter of the quantum of compensation payable to the claimant, there is only the statement of the mother P.W. 5 Dalbir Kaur, who deposed that her deceased son was employed as a moulder in the factory at a salary of Rs. 150/-P. M. Besides this, he also used to help her husband in cultivation of land which he took on batai. In other words, the loss to the claimant is to be assessed not only on the basis of what the deceased earned by working in the factory, but also with reference to the services rendered to his father in the cultivation of land.
It is apparent that the claimant here belongs, to a very poor section of society. In her situation, she would indeed have: been dependent upon the earnings of her deceased son. It is no doubt true that had the deceesed lived, he would in due course have got married and raise a family and consequently would also have had the expenses of the family to bear reducing thereby the proportion out of this earnings which he could have spared for the maintenance of his parents. At the same time, it must also be recognized that the wages of the deceased would have correspondingly gone up, both in terms of his service in the factory as also the value of his services in agriculture.
Taking an over all view of the circumstances of the claimant and the deceased, it would be fair and just to assess the dependency at Rs. 100/-per month. The claimant being only 40 years of age, the multiplier must be taken to be ''16''. So computed the compensation payable would work out to Rs. 19,200/- which may be rounded off to Rs. 20,000/-.
The compensation payable to the claimant-Dalbir Kaur is consequently hereby enhanced to Rs. 20,000/- which she shall be entitled to along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of the application to the date of payment of the amount awarded.
The Respondents shall be jointly and severally liable for the compensation awarded. This appeal is accordingly hereby accepted with costs. Counsel fee Rs. 500/-.