- (1.)The appellants herein are the claimants who filed a petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ahmedabad claiming an amount of Rs. 40.00 lakhs as compensation on the ground that the sole breadwinner of their family, who was 46 years old, had died in a road accident. The Tribunal, relying upon the oral as well as documentary evidence, took the income of the deceased at Rs.15,000/- p.m. and considering his age at 46, applied the multiplier 12. In addition to that, the Tribunal granted Rs.50,000/- as conventional amount, and finally awarded Rs.22,10,000/- as compensation to the appellants with interest @ 9% p.a.
(2.)Aggrieved thereby, the respondent-Insurance Company preferred First Appeal No. 301 of 2003 before the High Court. The appellants herein also filed Cross Objection No. 107 of 2006 in the said appeal seeking enhancement. After hearing the Insurance Company as well as claimants, the High Court determined the net salary of the deceased as Rs.14,000/- p.m. by applying the multiplier 8, arrived at the compensation towards loss of dependency as Rs.13,44,000/-. It further added Rs.25,000/- for loss of estate and Rs.15,000/- for loss of consortium to the widow of the deceased and Rs.5,000/- towards funeral expenses. The High Court , thus, in all, awarded a total amount of Rs.13,90,000/- as compensation with 7.5% interest. Thus, the High Court by the impugned order reduced the compensation from Rs.22,10,000/- to Rs.13,90,000/- and reduced the rate of interest from 9% p.a. to 7.5% p.a.
(3.)Now aggrieved by the order of the High Court the claimants-appellants filed these appeals for enhancement of compensation.