K G SUBRAMANIYAN Vs. RAMESH C R

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE husband and three children of deceased Santha who were awarded a total amount of Rs.1,78,650/- as compensation by MACT, Ottapalam have come up in appeal complaining of inadequacy of compensation awarded by the learned Tribunal. THE deceased Santha met with an accident on 14/04/05 and sustained fatal injuries to which she succumbed on 16/04/05. Deceased was a pensioner drawing a sum of Rs.2,800/- as monthly pension. THE appellants contend that the monthly income assessed by the learned Tribunal at Rs.2,100/- is too low. THE learned Tribunal has taken note of the fact that the deceased was a pensioner and was getting a monthly pension of Rs.2,800/- at the time of her death as evidenced by Ext.A23, the copy of the pension book. THE deceased was aged 57 years at that time. THE learned counsel for the appellants submits that the deduction of 1/3rd of amount made by the learned Tribunal towards personal expenses is unsustainable. On going through the impugned judgment, it is seen that the learned Tribunal has not deducted 1/3rd from the pension amount, but the sum of Rs.2,100/- was assessed as her monthly income, besides the pension. As there was no other evidence to show that the deceased was having any other job or avocation, it is certain that the aforesaid sum of Rs.2,100/- was quantified by the learned Tribunal as the amount for the service rendered by her to her family. As usual, 1/3rd has to be deducted for personal expenses.

(2.) THE learned counsel for the appellants submits that at least a sum of Rs.3,000/- should be taken as the income even if she was a non-earning member. At this juncture, the fact that she was a pensioner is also to be taken into account. THE incident took place in April, 2005. Considering all these aspects, we find that her monthly income can be taken as Rs.2,800/- from which 1/3rd of the same has to be deducted for her personal expenses. So, the appellant's dependency would come to Rs.1,866.67/- (rounded off to Rs.1,867/-). Thus, compensation for loss of dependency would come to Rs.1,79,232/- [Rs.1,867/- x 12 x 8 = 1,79,232/-].