JUDGMENT

Dr. Mukundakam Sharma, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 15.03.2010 passed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur in Miscellaneous Appeal No. 4867 of 2009, whereby the High Court had partially allowed the appeal filed by the Respondent No. 3 and 4 herein, against the award dated 28.08.2009 passed by the Second Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Satna, Madhya Pradesh and enhanced the compensation awarded by the Tribunal.

3. The factual matrix of the case is that Respondent No. 3 and 4 are parents of one Yogendra Kumar Pathak, who was 19 years of age and on 01.11.2007 while on his way to his village Kor Gaon, he alongwith his sister were travelling in jeep No. MP 19-A 930. The said jeep was being driven by Respondent No. 1 and met with an accident near Dhal Factory General Road due to rash and negligent driving by the Respondent No. 1which resulted in his death on the spot. FIR was lodged at Police Station, Civil Lines, Satna against the driver under Sections 229 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code. His dead body was taken to his village from the hospital on payment of Rs. 800/- and amount of Rs. 25000/- was spent on cremation.

4. It was stated in the claim petition that before his death, the deceased was a young man of robust health and was working as mechanical fitter in Priya Engineering Prism Cement Factory on the salary of Rs. 4500/- per month and in total was getting Rs. 6000/- a month inclusive of salary and over time allowance and was supporting his parents financially. After his death, Respondents No. 3 and 4 have been rendered without any financial support and have been deprived of the association and pleasure of having a family and grand children in future.

5. The M.A.C.T., Satna, came to a finding that the deceased was earning Rs. 3000/- per month and deducted 50 % therefrom towards personal expenses, as he was a bachelor. Considering the age of the parents which was 56 and 55 years, applied the Multiplier of 9, and awarded a total compensation of Rs. 1,72,000/- (Rs. 1,62,000/- towards the loss of dependency + Rs. 10,000/- towards conventional heads) along with 6 % interest per annum from the date of claim petition. Being aggrieved, the Respondent No. 3 and 4 preferred miscellaneous appeal No. 4867 of 2009 before the High Court for enhancement of amount of compensation stating that the income of the deceased was Rs. 4500/- and not Rs. 3000/- as determined by the Tribunal, and a multiplier of 16 instead of 9 was supposed to be applied. The High Court relying on the judgment of this Court in the case of Sarla Verma (Smt.) and Others v. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another1 (2009) 6 SCC 121, enhanced the multiplier to 18 instead of 9 and granted expenses to the tune of Rs. 15000/- under conventional heads. Accordingly, the High Court enhanced the amount of compensation from Rs. 1,72,000/- to Rs. 3,39,000/-

6. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that the High Court had failed to correctly apply the ratio laid in the case of Sarla Verma case (supra.). It was further contended that this Court has repeatedly held that in case where an unmarried young man dies, the average age of the parents will be taken for determining the multiplier and not the age of the deceased. In the aforesaid case, it has been clearly stated that for the age group of 56-60 years the multiplier should be 8, as has been correctly applied by the Tribunal by taking the average age of the Respondents 3 and 4 who are 55 and 56 years of age. It was further submitted that assuming, though not admitting, even if the age of the deceased is to be considered for determining the multiplier, the correct multiplier should have been 16 instead of 18, which is applicable to the age group between 15 to 20 years.

7. On the other hand, the learned counsel appearing for the Respondents No. 3 and 4 supported the impugned judgment and submitted that the High Court corr