NATIONAL INSURANCE CO LTD Vs. MITHLESH DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE accident dated 5th February, 1998 resulted in the death of Het Ram. The deceased was aged 24-25 years at the time of the accident and was working as a farmer. The deceased left behind his widow and two daughters who filed the claim petition before the learned Tribunal.

(2.) THE claimants claimed that the respondent was earning rs. 15,000/- per month from agriculture. However, in the absence of documentary evidence, the learned Tribunal took the minimum wages at Rs. 2,385/ -. The average income was taken at Rs. 3,527/- by taking the future prospects into consideration. 1/3rd was deducted towards the personal expenses of the deceased and the multiplier of 17 was applied to compute the loss on dependency at Rs. 4,59,000. Rs. 10,000/- was awarded towards loss of consortium, loss of love and affection and loss of estate and Rs. 6,000/- was awarded towards funeral expenses. The total compensation awarded is Rs. 4,75,000/ -.

(3.) THE only ground of challenge in this appeal is that the future prospects should not have been taken into consideration.