- (1.) RAJEEV Gupta, C. J. This is claimants' appeal for en hancement of the compensation awarded by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal / Dis trict Judge, Dehradun vide Award dated 24-11-2003 passed in M. A. C. T. No. 121 of 2000.
(2.) THE claimants, who are unfortu nate parents and sister of deceased Sachin Nanda, claimed compensation of Rs. 12,30,000/- for his death in the motor ac cident on 28-12-1999 when his scooter bearing registration No. UP 07-F-4301 was dashed by the offending vehicle Truck bearing registration No. USK-6511 result ing in his instantaneous death on the spot itself. THE claimants pleaded that de ceased Sachin Nanda, who was aged about 19 years, used to earn Rs. 4,5007-per month by supplying labourers to the contractors. The insurer, driver and the owners (previous and present) of the offending ve hicle Truck contested the claim and denied their liability to pay compensation to the claimants. The insurer took the plea that the deceased himself was negligent and as such, was responsible for the accident; the driver of the Truck was not holding a valid driving license. The previous owner of the Truck (Dalvinder Singh) took the plea that as the Truck was sold by him before the accident, the liability to pay compensation to the claimants, if any, would be of the purchaser of the Truck. The purchaser of the Truck and the driver pleaded that the scooterist (deceased) himself was respon sible for the accident. The claimants examined PW1 Gulshan Kumar Nanda, PW2 Ram Chandra and PW3 Ram Prakash Chawla in support of their claim, whereas the in surer of the offending vehicle Truck exam ined OPW1 Mohan Lal, an official of the R. T. O. Office, Dehradun.
(3.) THE Tribunal, on the evidence led by the parties, held that Sachin Nanda died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 28-12-1999; the driver of the Truck and the de ceased, both, were responsible for the ac cident in the ratio of 75% - 25% respec tively; and the insurer of the Truck was liable to- pay compensation to the claim ants. As the evidence led by the claim ants about the income of the deceased was not found reliable, the Tribunal as sessed his income at Rs. 2,200/- per month on the basis of the minimum wages payable at the relevant time. By deduct ing a sum of Rs. 700/- as the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs. 1,5007-per month and Rs. 18,000/- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs. 18,000/- with the multiplier of '13', the compensation was worked out to Rs. 2,34,0007 -. As the liability of the insurer of the Truck was to the extent of 75% of the compensation assessed by the Tribu nal, the insurer was directed to pay a sum of Rs. 1,75,500/- to the claimants with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of the filing of the claim petition.;