RAFSEENA Vs. NASEEMA W/O.LATE SALEEM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE legal heirs of a 29 year old head load workers by name Sharafudheen, being his widow aged 25, minor daughter aged one and half years and mother aged 48, complains that they did not receive adequate compensation at the hands of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal for the death of Sharafudheen which happened in a road traffic accident occasioned by the negligence of a motorcycle on which he was a pillion rider. It is not disputed that the 5th respondent Insurance Company had issued a valid and subsisting insurance policy in respect of the motor cycle. According to the appellants, the Tribunal did not award them adequate compensation under any of the heads. Their total claim was Rs.18 Lakhs and the Tribunal under various heads awarded them only Rs.9,67,432/-.

(2.) WE have heard the submissions of Sri.K.M.Jamaludheen learned counsel for the appellants and those of Sri.Remil Anto KandanKulathy learned standing counsel for the contesting Insurance Company .

(3.) WE have given our anxious consideration to the rival submissions addressed at the Bar. We have carefully read through the impugned award. We feel that the Tribunal could have adopted Rs.7,000/- as the monthly income of the deceased particularly in view of Exts.X1 and X2. Hence, we adopt Rs.7,000/- as the monthly income of the deceased for the purpose of determining the dependency compensation. We find that the correct multiplier has been adopted and proper deduction has been made by the Tribunal. When dependency compensation is recalculated adopting the revised multiplicand, it will be seen that the appellants are entitled to get an additional amount of Rs.25,568/- towards loss of dependency compensation. We award that amount to the appellants.