- (1.) RAJEEV Gupta, C. J. The claimants have preferred this appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, for enhancement of the compensation awarded by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/ District Judge, Nainital, vide Award dated 11-09-2003 passed in Motor Accident Claim Petition No. 190 of 2001.
(2.) THE claimants, who are unfortu nate parents and sisters of deceased Deepak Kandpal, claimed compensation of Rs. 20,25,000/- for his death in mo tor accident when on 04-10-2001, his motorcycle bearing registration No. UA 06-0529, was dashed by the offending vehicle Dumper bearing registration No. UP 02-C-0452 resulting in serious inju ries to Deepak Kandpal, who succumbed to those injuries on his way to Delhi for treatment. On the report about the ac cident, a criminal case was registered at Police Station Haldwani against the driver of the Dumper. THE claimants pleaded that deceased Deepak Kandpal used to earn Rs. 1,00,000/-per annum. The owners and the insurers of both the vehicles, i. e. Motorcycle and Dumper, contested the claim and de nied their liability to pay compensation to the claimants. The owner of the of fending vehicle Dumper pleaded that the Motorcyclist, himself, was rash and neg ligent and as such, was responsible for the accident, whereas the insurer of the Dumper pleaded that the Dumper was being plied in breach of the policy con ditions and the driver of the Dumper was not holding a valid driving license. The owner of the Motorcycle pleaded that as the Motorcycle was insured with New India Insurance Co. Ltd. , the liabil ity to pay compensation to the claim ants, if any, would be that of the Insur ance Company. The insurer of the Mo torcycle took the plea that the driver of the Dumper was responsible for the ac cident and as such, the liability to pay compensation would be that of the owner and insurer of the Dumper. The claimants examined PW1 Smt. Bhagwati Kandpal, PW2 Subhash Chandra Joshi and PW3 Manoj Kandpal in support of their claim, whereas the owners and insurers of the Motorcycle and the Dumper did not ex amine any witness in rebuttal.
(3.) THE Tribunal, on the evidence led by the parties, held that Deepak Kandpal died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 04-10-2001; the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending vehicle Dumper; and the insurer of the Dumper was liable to pay compensation to the claimants. On a close scrutiny of the evi dence led by the claimants about the income of the deceased, the Tribunal assessed his income at Rs. 65,350/- per annum. By deducting 50% of the said amount as the personal expenses of the deceased, the Tribunal assessed the de pendency of the claimants at Rs. 32,6751- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs. 32,6751- with the multiplier of '13', the compensation was worked out to Rs. 4,24,775/ -. The Tribunal awarded Rs. 2,000/- towards Funeral Expenses and Rs. 2,500/- to wards Loss of Estate. Thus, a total sum of Rs. 4,29,275/- was awarded as com pensation to the claimants for the death of Deepak Kandpal in the motor acci dent. The Tribunal, further, directed the insurer of the offending vehicle Dumper to pay interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the claim peti tion.;