Fateh Deep Singh, J. - (1.) FEELING aggrieved over the meagerness of the compensation awarded by learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ropar dated 27.2.2004, the unfortunate claimant mother of the deceased has invoked the jurisdiction of this Appellate Court.
(2.) THE undisputed facts as are highlighted that on 3.7.2000, deceased Sukhwinder Singh a young man of around 20 years bachelor working as Crane Operator met with accident while going on scooter bearing registration No. PB -16 -6949 in the area of village Mindhwan on Anandpur Sahib -Kiratpur Sahib road when the offending truck bearing registration No. HP -20 -9261 being driven rashly and negligently at a high speed by Jaswinder Singh alias Binder hit the deceased from the rear side. Giving thoughtful consideration to the submissions made by Ms. Nitika, counsel for the appellant and Mr. Raghujit Singh Madan, Advocate and Mr. D.K. Dogra, Advocate for Insurance Company. Counsel for the appellant squarely accepts that no documentary evidence has been led as to the avocation and income of the deceased and it is purely on the basis of oral testimony of mother Kirtan Kaur PW1 and Shamsher Singh PW2, it has been proved so. Since the Act is a welfare Statute and purely on such a technicality, the claimant cannot be denied the legitimate right to compensation and in view of the settled position of law in such cases, the avocation of the deceased can be considered to be that of a labourer. Assuming the rate of daily wages during the year 2000 when the accident had taken place, it will be reasonable to hold that the deceased in all likelihood must be earning Rs. 3500/ - per month. Deducting 1/3rd of this earning for the own upkeepment and need of the deceased, the dependency of the claimant -mother comes to Rs. 2300/ - and annual dependency comes to Rs. 27,600/ -.
(3.) THOUGH there is no other independent documentary evidence to prove the age of the deceased and the sole document is the post mortem report Ex. A1 which reflects the age to be 20 years. In view of law laid down in Sarla Verma and others versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another, : 2009 (6) SCC 121 and keeping in view the fact that the deceased was a bachelor and over a period of time would have settled in life and the dependency of the claimant would have also decreased and keeping in view the relative ages of the deceased and the claimant, multiplier of 15 appears to be appropriate. Therefore, total compensation comes to Rs. 4,14,000/ -. Though not much has come on the record as to the expenses incurred on the last rites ceremonies of the deceased and likely repercussions that it would have on the future life of the claimant as she has unfortunately lost her young son in this accident and together with the loss of estate, the same is assessed to the tune of Rs. 30,000/ -. Therefore, total compensation comes to Rs. 4,44,000/ -.;