Surjit Kaur And ANR v. Varinder Singh And Others
FAO-3206-2021 (O&M) - 1 -
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
FAO-3206-2021 (O&M) Date of decision: 29.01.2026 Surjit Kaur and another ...Appellant(s) Vs.
Varinder Singh and others
...Respondent(s)
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE NIDHI GUPTA Present:- Mr. B.D.Sharma, Advocate for the appellants.
Mr. Rishav Jain, Advocate for respondent No.1. Mr. Aman Sharma, Advocate for the respondent No.2 and 3-PRTC.
*** NIDHI GUPTA, J.
The present appeal has been -led by the claimants seeking enhancement of compensa1on of Rs.2,55,000/- awarded by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jalandhar (hereina6er referred to as "the learned Tribunal") vide Award dated 05.08.2019 passed in MACP Case No. 163 dated 16.07.2018 -led under Sec1on 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, (hereina6er referred to as "the Act"). The 2 claimants before the learned Tribunal are 39-year-old mother, and 47-year-old father of the deceased Jorawar Singh, who was 4 years old at the 1me of accident.
FAO-3206-2021 (O&M) - 2 - 2.
Brief facts of the case are that the learned Tribunal on the basis of pleadings and evidence adduced before it concluded that the deceased-Jorawar Singh had died due to the injuries su?ered by him in a motor vehicular accident that took place on 30.05.2018 due to the rash and negligent driving of a Bus bearing registra1on No.PB-10DR-1115 (hereina6er "the o?ending vehicle") being driven by respondent No.1; and owned by respondents No.2 and 3. The Tribunal awarded the above compensa1on along with interest @ 8% per annum. Respondents No. 1 to 3 were held liable to pay the said compensa1on jointly and severally. 3.
Learned counsel for the appellants seeks enhancement of compensa1on by submiDng that income of the deceased has been taken on the lower side as only Rs.15,000/-p.a. It is submiFed that in terms of judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Kajal vs. Jagdish Chand (SC): Law Finder Doc Id # 1679623, income of the deceased child ought to have been taken as per the minimum wages payable to a skilled workman. It is further submiFed that mul1plier of 15 has been correctly applied. However, nothing has been awarded by way of consor1um. It is accordingly prayed that present appeal be allowed; and compensa1on be enhanced as above.
4.
Per contra, ld. counsel for respondents No.1, 2 and 3 oppose submissions of the appellants and submit that the impugned Award su?ers from no in-rmity as the compensa1on awarded to the appellants is just and fair. Hence, present appeal deserves to be dismissed.
FAO-3206-2021 (O&M) - 3 - 5.
No other argument is raised on behalf of the par1es. I have heard ld. counsel and perused the case -le in detail. I -nd some merit in the submissions advanced on behalf of the appellants. 6.
It has been submiFed by learned counsel for the appellants that in terms of the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court passed in case of Kajal (supra), income of the deceased ought to have been assessed as per the minimum wages payable to a skilled workman. However, the facts of the said case in Kajal (supra) are dis1nctly di?erent from the present case. In the said case, the deceased was 12-year-old girl, who was a student; whereas in the present case, age of the deceased was determined to be 4 years on the basis of Postmortem Report and pleadings. Even there is no evidence to show that deceased child was a student. Further, the above relied upon case was a case of injury; whereas the present is case of death. Moreover, Hon'ble Supreme Court in the said case has clearly stated that "Each case has to be decided on its own evidence......". As the said ruling is dis1nguishable on facts and law, therefore, in my view, learned Tribunal has correctly assessed no1onal income of the deceased as Rs.15,000/- p.a.
7.
Learned Tribunal had further applied mul1plier of 15 as s1pulated in the Second Schedule of the Act; thereby calcula1ng compensa1on amount to be Rs.2,25,000/-. Learned Tribunal had further awarded Rs.15,000/- towards loss of estate; and Rs.15,000/- towards funeral expenses; thereby gran1ng total compensa1on of Rs.2,55,000/-.
FAO-3206-2021 (O&M) - 4 - 8.
However, the learned Tribunal has awarded nothing by way of consor1um. The claimants being parents of the deceased are en1tled to consor1um of Rs.44,000/- each i.e. Rs.88,000/- in conformity with the law laid down by Hon'ble Supreme Court in "Naonal Insurance Company Limited vs. Pranay Sethi and others", Special Leave Peon (Civil) No. 25590 of 2014.
9.
In view of above, the present appeal is partly allowed; and compensa1on payable to the appellants is enhanced by an amount of Rs.44,000/- each to claimants no.1 and 2 i.e. total of Rs.88,000/- in the above terms. The appellants are therefore en1tled to total compensa1on of ₹3,43,000/- i.e. (₹2,55,000/- + ₹88,000/-). 10.
Pending applica1on(s) if any also stand(s) disposed of. 29.01.2026 (NIDHI GUPTA) Divyanshi JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned:
Yes/No Whether reportable:
Yes/No