JAY SINGH Vs. VIJAY KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE claimants appellants have filed this appeal against the judgment dated 25. 5. 2000 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, jaipur City, Jaipur in motor accident claim case no. 154/99. It is not necessary to narrate the facts in detail as the only controversy is that whether the compensation amount awarded by learned Tribunal is fair and reasonable? the deceased Vikram Singh aged about 23 years died in an accident which occurred on 11. 10. 1998. The claimants appellants are the parents of the deceased. Learned Tribunal passed an award of rs. 2,62,000/- in favour of the claimants appellants. Heard learned counsel for the claimants appellants and learned counsel for the respondent no. 2. Learned counsel for the claimants appellants submits that the income of the deceased has been assessed at a very lower side and the multiplier adopted by learned Tribunal is also improper. He further submits that learned Tribunal has failed to award interest whereas interest should have been awarded from the date of filing the claim application to the date of deposit/payment.

(2.) THE claimants have examined Digvijay Singh AW. 2 and Ranjit Singh aw. 3 for proving that the deceased was earning Rs. 6,000/- per month. Digvijay Singh AW. 2 and Ranjit Singh AW. 3 are the real brothers of the claimant Jay Singh AW. 1 and they have failed to produce income-tax return in which the salary of the deceased Vikram Singh was shown. Considering the evidence on the record, learned Tribunal has rightly assessed the income of the deceased as Rs. 3,000/- per month and thereafter it has correctly deducted 1/3 of it on account of personal expenses of the deceased.

(3.) THE deceased was 23 years old at the time of his death. He was unmarried. The claimant Jai Singh is the father and the claimant Pushpa kanwar is the mother of the deceased. At the time of death of the deceased the father was 50 years old whereas the mother was 47 years old as per the claim application. Learned Tribunal has adopted a multiplier of 10. However, looking to the age of the claimants I am of the opinion that the appropriate multiplier in this case is 13. If we adopt the multiplier of 13 then the dependency comes to Rs. 2000x12x13 = Rs. 3,12,000/ -. If we add Rs. 22,000/- as added by learned Tribunal for loss of affection and for funeral expenses then the amount comes to Rs. 3,34,000/ -. The claimants are thus entitled to a compensation of Rs. 3,34,000/ -. The claimants appellants have not got interest on the awarded amount because the respondent no. 2 deposited the amount within forty-five days as directed by learned Tribunal. I am of the opinion that interest should be awarded from the date of filing of the claim application till the date of deposit/payment on the awarded amount less Rs. 50,000/-paid by way of interim award.