P. Ramaiah and Another vs M. Mallesham and Others

A. Lakshmana Rao, J.—The appellants herein are the parents of the deceased P. Laxminarayana who was involved in an accident on 6-4-1984 caused by the lorry bearing No.A.P.T.7998. As a result of the accident, he died. At the time of the accident he was working as a cleaner. According to the claimants, he was drawing a salary of Rs. 500/- P.M. and Rs. 8/- as daily allowance. Having found that the accident was caused due to the rash and negligent driving of the vehicle, the Tribunal awarded a total compensation of Rs. 37,600/ -. The Tribunal has taken all the relevant circumstances into consideration while awarding the compensation.

Aggrieved by the award of the Tribunal, the claimants filed C.M.A. No. 777/88 in this Court. Having found that the compensation awarded to the claimants was quite reasonable, the learned single Judge dismissed the appeal. Aggrieved by that order, this Letters Patent Appeal is preferred.

It is submitted by the learned counsel for the appellants that the multiplier of 17.5 applied by the Tribunal was not correct and as held by the Supreme Court in Hardeo Kaur and others Vs. Rajasthan State Transport Corporation and another, the multiplier of 24 should have been applied. We have to bear in mind that the claimants are the parents of the deceased person who was not married by the time of the accident. Therefore, the multiplier of 17.5 applied by the Tribunal in view of the decision of this Court in A.P. State Road Transport Corporation v. G. Ramanaiah, 1988 (1) ACJ 223 cannot be said to be not a proper multiplier. Therefore, the appeal is dismissed. No costs.