JUDGMENT
G.R. Sarraf, J.
1. The claimant-appellants have submitted this appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act against the judgment/award dated 30.1.1996 of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jaipur District, Jaipur.
2. The facts in brief are that on 1.6.92, the deceased Lallu Ram @ Lallu Lal was going by jeep No. RJ-14-6962 along with two others from Jaipur. When the aforementioned jeep reached near village Nawalpura on National Highway No. 8, a bus No. RNP-1768 of Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation, driven rashly and negligently by its driver collided with the jeep resulting in the death of Lallu Ram @ Lallu Lal and two others and several other persons sustained injuries. The Tribunal after hearing the parties, passed an award of Rs. 1,83,000 in favour of the claimant-appellants. Aggrieved by this judgment/award, the claimant-appellants have filed this appeal.
3. Mr. R.S. Rathor the learned Counsel for the claimant-appellants has assailed the finding of the learned Tribunal only on issue No. 3 and has contended that the learned Tribunal has assessed the income of the diseased Lallu Lal @ Lallu Ram as Rs. 2100 per month, but his income was far more than this. He further contended that the learned Tribunal adopted a multiplier of 10 whereas looking to the age of the deceased a multiplier of 16 should have been adopted in this matter. He also contended that no amount has been awarded for loss of love and affection to the claimant-appellant Nos. 2 to 4. He, therefore, prayed for the increase of the compensation amount.
4. Mr. Virendra Agarwal, the learned Advocate for respondent No. 2 has supported the judgment of the learned Tribunal.
5.I am clearly of the opinion that the learned Tribunal has not committed any error in arriving at the conclusion that the deceased Lallu Ram @ Lallu Lal was earning Rs. 2100 per month at the time of his death. No different conclusion is possible on the basis of the evidence available on the record. The learned Tribunal also rightly deducted 1/3rd amount on account of the expenditure on the deceased himself and assessed the dependency at Rs. 1400. The Tribunal thus awarded Rs. 1,83,000 in total by adopting a multiplier of 10. The deceased is said to be around 40 years old at the time of his death. Looking to the age of the deceased, the age of the dependents and their number and considering all facts and circumstances of this case. I am of the opinion that the appropriate multiplier in this case is 12. In this regard I refer to a decision of Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd. v. S. Rajapriya and Ors. II (2005) ACC 467 (SC) : 2005 (1) WLC (SC) Civil 732. If that be so then the amount comes to [Rs. 1,400 x 12 x 12] Rs. 2,01,600. As held by the Tribunal Rs. 15,000 be added on account of pain and suffering and loss of consortium. An amount of Rs. 3,400 may further be added for loss of paternal love and affection. The total amount comes to Rs. 2,20.000. Thus the claimants-appellants are entitled to compensation to the tune of Rs. 2,20,000.
6. The appeal of the claimant-appellants is, therefore, allowed to the extent stated above and the amount of compensation is increased from Rs. 1,83,000 to Rs. 2,20,000. The claimant-appellants will be entitled to interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of award of the Tribunal to the date of deposit/realisation on the enhanced amount. If the aforesaid amount is not paid or deposited within a period of three months, then the respondents will have to pay interest at the rate of 12% per annum. The learned Tribunal will apportion the amount between the claimants and will pass necessary orders regarding payment/deposit thereof.
No order as to costs.