Sanjeev Seth and others vs Rajinder Thakar and others

Manmohan Singh Liberhan, J.—The only question raised in this appeal is that the compensation awarded is not adequate.

The learned Counsel for the Appellants contends that the deceased was 47 years of age on the date of accident and was drawing a salary of Rs. 950/- per month However, the learned Tribunal, for no reasons, recorded that his monthly income was Rs 600/-and further deducting Rs. 200/- as personal expenses, found that the monthly dependency of the claimants was Rs. 400/-. The learned Tribunal further adopted the multiplier of sixteen and assessed Rs. 76,800/ as compensation and after deducting a sum of Rs. 16,800/- on account of lumpsum payment, awarded Rs. 60,000/- as compensation to the claimants

The learned Counsel for the Appellants contends that the reasoning adopted by the learned Tribunal in fixing the compensation is untenable, first by reducing the income from Rs. 950/- to Rs. 600/-per month and further giving a deduction on account of lumpsum payment. The deduction made on account of lumpsum payment is contrary to the Full Bench decision in Lachhman Singh and Ors. v. Gurmeet Kaur and Ors. (1979) 81 P. L. R, 1.

Learned Counsel for the Appellants has made an application under Order 41, Rule 27 of the CPC to place on record the last pay drawn certificate of the deceased. No reply has been filed to the said application and even otherwise no serious objection can be taken with respect to the same. In the interest of justice I allow the application for additional evidence and permit the last pay drawn certificate of the deceased to be placed on the record. It is marked Exhibit ''X''.

I have been taken through the statement of Smt. Sudesh Seth claimant, which finds corroboration from the last pay drawn certificate of the deceased, according to which he was drawing Rs 968-20 per month at the time of his death Giving a deduction of one-third as his personal expenses, the dependency of the claimants on the deceased comes to Rs. 600/- per month The multiplier of sixteen has been accepted as reasonable by a plethora of precedents. Taking into consideration the age of the deceased his widow and the dependent children, in my opinion sixteen it the suitable multiplier and I also adopt the same.

By adopting the said multiplier and the dependency of the claimants, they are entitled to Rs. 1,15,200/- as compensation. Rounding of the figure, I award Rs. 1,15,000/- as compensation to the claimants with 12 percent interest from the date of application till the payment.

In view of my above observations, the appeal is accepted and the award of the Tribunal is modified. No order as to costs.