ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. Vs. TARSEM KAUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order will dispose of FAO No. 1105 of 1987 filed by the Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Cross-Objection No. 52-CII of 1992 filed in the said appeal by claimants-respondents No. 1 to 5 for enhancement of the compensation and Cross-Objection No. 85-CII of 1992 filed by Ram Asra, owner of offending Bus No. PAB 9033 praying that the appeal filed by the appellant-Insurance Company and the claim petition filed by the claimants be dismissed.

(2.) THE brief facts which led to the filing of this case are that Smt. Tarsem Kaur, widow of Hoshiar Singh who died in a road accident on 20.5.1986, her minor children and the parents of the deceased filed a claim petition under Section 110-A of Motor Vehicles Act claiming Rs. 2,50,000/- as compensation. The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Rup Nagar, hereinafter referred to as the 'Tribunal' awarded a sum of Rs. 93,840/- as compensation. As per award of the Tribunal, the entire liability was to be discharged by the Insurance Company, the present appellant.

(3.) MR . Munishwar Puri, Advocate, the learned Counsel for the Appellant has invited the attention of the Court to X-erox copy of the insurance policy to show that as per terms of the policy the liability of the company to be discharged by it was Rs. 15,000/-. In the Cross-Objection, the claimants have prayed for enhancement of the compensation on the ground that the deceased was 35 years old at the time of his death. As such, the Tribunal was not justified in applying a multiplier of 12 while assessing compensation.