- (1.) THIS is claimants' appeal for enhancement of the compensation awarded by Motor Accident Claims Tri bunal / Addl. District Judge, Roorkee vide Award dated 02-08-2003 passed in M. A. C. T. No. 54 of 1998.
(2.) THE claimants, who are unfortu nate widow and minor children of de ceased Atar Singh, claimed compensa tion of Rs. 39,25,000/- for his death in the motor accident on 01-03-1998 when his Scooter bearing registration No. UP-10c-1957 was dashed by the offending vehicle Tractor bearing registration No. UP-10b-5924 resulting in multiple seri ous injuries to Atar Singh, who suc cumbed to those injuries on his way to the hospital. THE claimants pleaded that deceased Atar Singh was getting salary of Rs. 9,672. 477- as Cashier in Indian Overseas Bank. The owner and driver of the Trac tor; the insurer of the Tractor; and the insurer of the Scooter contested the claim and denied their liability to pay compensation to the claimants. The in surer of the Tractor took the plea that the Tractor was being plied in breach of the policy conditions and the Scooterist, himself, was responsible for the acci dent, whereas the insurer of the Scooter pleaded that the driver of the Tractor, alone, was responsible for the accident. The claimants examined PW1 Sushila, P. W. 2 Palla and PW3 Sannu in support of their claim, whereas the owner of the Tractor examined DW1 Murtza in rebuttal.
(3.) THE Tribunal, on a close scrutiny of the evidence led by the parties, held that Atar Singh died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the motor accident on 01-03-1998; the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the driver of the offending ve hicle Tractor; and the insurer of the Trac tor was liable to pay compensation to the claimants. The Tribunal assessed the in come of the deceased at Rs. 10,000/-per month and Rs. 1,20,000/- per annum. After deducting l/3rd of the said amount as the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants' dependency was assessed at Rs. 80. 000/- per annum. By multiplying the annual dependency of Rs. 80,000/- with the multiplier of '15', the compensation was assessed at Rs. 12,00,000/ -. The Tribunal by taking into account the amount of family pension of Rs. 4,8007-, being received by the family of the deceased every month, reduced the compensation payable to the claimants to Rs. 3,36,000/ -. By awarding further sums of Rs. 90,000/-towards Loss of Future Prospects and Rs. 10,000/- towards Loss of Consor tium; Funeral Expenses; and Loss of Estate, a total sum of Rs. 4,36,000/-was awarded as compensation to the claimants for the death of Atar Singh in the motor accident on 01-03-1998. The Tribunal, further, directed the insurer of the Tractor to pay interest at the rate of 9% per annum in the event of its fail ure to pay the amount of compensation to the claimants within a period of one month from the date of the Award.;