The dependency of the legal representatives is not a prerequisite for entitlement to compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, and the right to sue for compensation accrues on the date of the accident.

Reva Khetrapal, J.

By way of this appeal, the Appellants seek to assail the judgment and award of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal dated 06.03.2010.

2. The brief facts leading to the filing of the appeal are as follows :

On 04.10.2007 the deceased was travelling in tempo No. HR-69-4806. When the said tempo reached G.T.K. Road, Singhu Border, the driver of the tempo halted his vehicle behind a stationary truck at the toll gate. In the meanwhile, a truck bearing No. HR-38-E-9293 driven by its driver at a very high speed, in a rash and negligent manner, came from the back side and hit the stationary tempo. As a result of the forceful impact, the said tempo got sandwiched between the truck standing ahead of it and truck No. HR-38-E-9293. The deceased sustained injuries all over his body to which he succumbed on 10.10.2007. A claim petition claiming compensation of Rs. 20 lakhs alongwith interest at the rate of 18% per annum was filed by the mother and father of the deceased before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Rohini, Delhi, against the driver, the owner and the insurer of the offending vehicle i.e., the truck No. HR-38-E-9293, being the Respondents No. 1, 2 and 3 herein.

3. By an order dated 02.09.2008, the learned Tribunal awarded an interim compensation of Rs. 50,000/-, that is, Rs. 25,000/- each to the mother and father of the deceased. The mother of the deceased died during the pendency of the proceedings and her name was deleted from the array of parties. By its judgment and award dated 06.03.2010, the learned Tribunal by adopting the following process of reasoning held that the aforesaid amount of Rs. 50,000/- paid to the claimants as interim compensation, was just and reasonable compensation.

4. The learned Tribunal noted that the mother of the deceased had expired in July 2008, i.e. after about 9 months from the accidental death of the deceased. It further noted that in his testimony PW1, the father of the deceased, had stated that he was working as a peon with the State Bank of Patiala and was earning around Rs. 10,000/- per month, and that he had three sons besides the deceased, all of whom were older to the deceased. The learned Tribunal, thus, came to a conclusion that the father of the deceased was not dependent upon the deceased and was entitled only to compensation for the loss of love and affection and support from the deceased or at the most towards the loss of estate of the deceased. The father of deceased was not entitled to compensation on account of loss of dependency. The mother of the deceased was entitled to compensation during her life time for loss of dependency, which was for a period of nine months only. Accordingly, the interim compensation granted by the order dated 02.09.2008 to the extent of Rs. 50,000/-, that is, Rs. 25,000/- to each of the parents of the deceased, was held to be just and reasonable compensation.

5. In arriving at the aforesaid conclusion, the Tribunal relied upon the following observations made by the Supreme Court in the case of Smt. Sarla Verma and Others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and Another, (2009) 6 SCC 121.

Where the deceased was a bachelor and the claimants are the parents, the deduction follows a different principle. In regard to bachelors, normally, 50% is deducted as personal and living expenses, because it is assumed that a bachelor would tend to spend more on himself. Even otherwise, there is also the possibility of his getting married in a short time, in which event the contribution to the parent/s and siblings is likely to be cut drastically. Further, subject to evidence to the contrary, the father is likely to have his own income and will not be considered as a dependant and the mother alone will be considered as a dependent. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, brothers and sisters will not be considered as dependents, because they will either be independent and earning, or married, or be dependant on the father. Thus even if the deceased i