TIRATH S. THAKUR, J.

( 1 ) THIS appeal by the Corporation assails the correctness of an award made by the Motor Accidents claims Tribunal, Saundatti, whereby a sum of Rs. 3,13,000 with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum has been determined and awarded as compensation for the death of Ramachandrappa Lamani in a road accident.

( 2 ) THE case of the claimants as set out in the claim petition was that the deceased ramachandrappa Lamani was travelling on the roof of a bus plying between Ramdurg and Batakurki. Somewhere on the way, he was hit by a branch of roadside tree resulting in severe injuries to him that proved fatal. M. V. C. No. 840 of 1992 was in due course filed by his father, widow and the children for payment of compensation. Their case was that the accident in question had taken place entirely due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle/bus by its driver. Their further case was that the deceased was made to sit on the roof of the bus by its driver and conductor as there was no space available inside the bus to accommodate him. Compensation assessed at Rs. 5,00,000 with cost and interest was accordingly claimed by the claimants.

( 3 ) THE Corporation opposed the claim, inter alia, on the ground that the accident in question had not taken place on account of the alleged rash and negligent driving of the bus. According to the Corporation, deceased had on his own accord, climbed to the roof of the bus from the rear knowing fully well that any such travel could endanger his life and result in a fatal accident.

( 4 ) UPON appreciation of the oral evidence and the documents produced by the parties in support of their respective cases, the Claims Tribunal held that the accident in question had taken place on account of rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle by its driver. Taking the income of the deceased at Rs. 2,100 per month and deducting one-third (1/3rd) for his personal expenses, the Tribunal took the balance of rs. 1,400 p. m. or Rs. 16,800 per annum as his contribution to the family and capitalised the same by applying a multiple of 15 to award a sum of Rs. 2,52,000 for loss of dependency. To that amount, the Tribunal added Rs. 15,000 towards pain and agony allegedly suffered by claimants, Rs. 10,000 towards loss to estate, Rs. 10,000 towards loss of expectation of life, Rs. 10,000 for loss of love and affection, Rs. 10,000 towards loss of consortium, Rs. 1,000 for transportation expenses of the body apart from Rs. 5,000 towards expenses incurred for funeral. A total amount of Rs. 3,13,000 was thus awarded with interest at 9 per cent per annum from the date of the petition till the date of deposit. The present appeal, as noticed earlier, assails the correctness of the said award.

( 5 ) APPEARING for the appellant Corporation, Mr. D. Vijayakumar made a twofold submission. Firstly, he contended that the Tribunal was in error in holding that the deceased had not in any way contributed to the occurrence of the accident. He urged that the oral testimony of DW 1 and DW 2, the driver and conductor of the bus, proved that the deceased had, without the knowledge of the driver and conductor, climbed to the rooftop of the bus knowing fully well that any such travel would endanger his life. They had further stated that deceased had not been permitted by any one of them to travel on the roof. The Tribunal should therefore, have held that the deceased had also contributed equally to the occurrence of the accident on account of his travelling on the roof of the bus. Secondly, he submitted that the Tribunal had committed a mistake in awarding a sum of Rs. 15,000 towards pain and agony suffered by the claimants and Rs. 10,000 towards loss of expectation of life. Award of sum of Rs. 10,000 towards loss of love and affection was also according to the learned counsel excessive.

( 6 ) ON behalf of respondents-claimants, it was on the other hand argued that the view taken by the Tribunal was justified o

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