KASHMIRI DEVI Vs. SHER SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal has been filed by the claimants claiming enhancement of the compensation. The claimants are the parents of deceased Munish Kumar, who unfortunately died in an accident when he was hit by the offending truck bearing No. HP -14 -7569, while he was walking on the road. The deceased, Munish Kumar, had already completed his B.Sc. and B.Ed. and was studying in M.Sc. (Bio -Technology) in Shoolini Institute of Life Sciences and Business Management, Solan.

(2.) FROM the evidence on record, it is apparent that in matriculation, deceased, Munish Kumar, had scored more than 85% marks, since his matriculation certificate, Ex. P -1, shows that he was having 597 marks out of 700. Ex. P -2 is the merit certificate issued by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education, Dharamshala in this regard. The deceased was 23 years of age at the time when he unfortunately expired. Ex. P -3 is the result sheet of B.Sc., which shows that he had scored a total of 1059 marks out of 1700, i.e. more than 62% marks, which means that he had obtained first division in B.Sc. Ex. P -4 is the progress card of the deceased and it shows that out of the four subjects he was studying, he had obtained 'A' Grade in two subjects, 'B' in one and 'C' in one subject. The deceased was also the holder of the National Scholarship, as is evident from Ex. P -5. Ex. P -6 is the certificate showing that Munish Kumar had qualified B.Ed. scoring 509 marks out of 800, which works out to more than 64%.

(3.) THE deceased was a student at the relevant time and his income has to be assessed keeping in view the nature of his academic qualifications, his marks etc. The learned Tribunal has assessed his income at Rs. 4,500/ - per month, which, in my opinion, is extremely low. Even a labourer in the year 2005 would be earning about Rs. 4,000/ - per month. A person, who is doing Post Graduation having obtained first division both in Graduation and B.Ed., would definitely be expected to have higher income. The deceased was pursuing his studies in the field of Bio Technology. It is an emerging field, where salary of an employee is much greater than ordinary teachers. This fact has been totally glossed over by the learned Tribunal.