JUDGMENT

V.S. SIRPURKAR, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is filed by the widow and five children of one Rajendra Singh who died in an accident on 12.4.2004 when he was riding on his bicycle and was given a dash by the offending vehicle, a Canter Truck bearing Registration No.UA-04-1486. Rajendra Singh died on the spot. The driver of the offending vehicle was caught on the spot. The claimants, therefore, filed the claim before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal on the basis that Rajendra Singh used to earn Rs.140/- per day and Rs.4200/- per month and that his age at the time of accident was barely 35 years. In support of the claim, three witnesses including Laxmi Devi, the wife of the deceased were examined and the Tribunal, on the basis of the evidence, held that the deceased Rajendra Singh died on account of the injuries sustained by him in the accident on 12.4.2004 which accident had occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle. As regards the income, the Tribunal assessed the same at Rs.15,000/- per annum on the basis of the notional income prescribed in Second Schedule under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act. After deducting 1/3rd of the said amount as the personal expenses of the deceased, the claimants dependency was assessed at Rs.10,000/- per month and by multiplying the annual dependency of Rs.10,000/- with the multiplier of 16, the compensation was worked out to Rs.1,60,000/-. The other claims were also awarded being Rs.2,000/- for funeral expenses, Rs.5,000/- for loss of consortium to the widow and Rs.2,000/- for loss of estate. Thus a total sum of Rs.1,69,000/- was awarded as compensation to the claimants. The Tribunal directed the payment of interest on the amount of compensation at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of claim petition.

3. An appeal came to be filed before the High Court by the claimants. No appeal, however, was filed by the Insurance Company or the owner of the vehicle. It was contended before the High Court that there was no basis for arriving at the notional income at Rs.15,000/- per annum and in fact the income was much more than that for which the evidence of Laxmi Devi was led. Therefore, the enhanced compensation was claimed in the appeal. As against this it was argued that the Tribunal had erred in applying the higher multiplier of 16. Reliance was placed on a reported decision of this Court in T.N. State Transort Corporation Ltd. v. Rajapriya and [(2005) 6 SCC 236].

4. The High Court confirmed the earlier findings regarding the negligence of death. However, the High Court came to the conclusion that though the claim of the income of Rs.4200/- per month was not reliable, the notional income should have been held to be Rs.36,000/- per annum, i.e., Rs.3,000/- per month. For this proposition the High Court held that the notional income of Rs.15,000/- in the Second Schedule was prescribed in the year 1994 while the accident had taken place in the year 2004. The second reason given by the High Court was that even an unskilled labourer, these days, can easily earn Rs.100/- per day and Rs.3,000/- per month and, therefore, the High Court held the income to be Rs.36,000/- per annum and by deducting 1/3rd of the income of the deceased for his personal expenses, the claimants dependency was assessed at Rs.24,000/- per annum. However, the High Court reduced the multiplier of 16 applied by the Tribunal to 12. For this action, the High Court relied on the aforementioned judgment in T.N. Transports Corporation’s case. The High Court thus applied the multiplier of 12 instead of 16 and ultimately the High Court arrived at the figure of Rs.2,88,000/- and to this the other compensation on account of funeral expenses, loss of consortium to the widow and loss of estate, which were granted by the Tribunal, were added and the total compensation of Rs.2,97,000/- was awarded by the High Court. The claimants, dissatisfied with this finding, have filed this appeal before us.

5. Le