JUDGMENT :

Heard Mr. M. Khan, learned counsel for the appellant and Ms. M. Choudhury, learned counsel for the respondent No. 1/Insurance Company.

2. This appeal under Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been filed for enhancement of the amount of award passed by the learned Member, MACT Bongaigaon vide Judgment and Award, dated 20.12.2019 in MAC Case No. 145/2013.

3. The case of the appellant/claimant, in brief, is that on 25.11.2008 at about 3:15 am., a bus bearing registration No. AS-01-7513 driven by the respondent No. 3 was proceeding from Bijni towards Abhayapuri and when the vehicle reached Gerukhabari Chowk on National Highway No.31, a truck coming from eastern side towards Dhubri in rash and negligent manner, knocked down the bus due to which the bus rolled down and the handyman (Dhananjay Ray), who was the son of the claimant, sustained grievous head injury and died on the spot.

4. The appellant/claimant filed MAC Case No. 145/13 before the Court of learned Member, MACT, Bongaigaon, claiming compensation for an amount of Rs.5,75,000/-(Rupees Five Lakhs Seventy Five Thousand) only for the death of her son due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle.

5. Upon receipt of notice, the opposite parties appeared and filed their written statement denying the claims of the appellant and prayed for dismissal of the claim petition.

6. The claimant side examined two witnesses including the claimant and exhibited 7 documents and the opposite party neither examined any witness nor exhibited any documents in their defence.

7. Accordingly, after due adjudication of the claim petition, the learned Tribunal vide Judgment and Award, dated 20.12.2019 in MAC Case No.145/2013, awarded compensation of Rs.3,11,920/-(Rounded off to Rs.3,12,000/-) (Rupees Three Lakhs Twelve Thousand) only to the claimant/ appellant as compensation, however, with 6% interest from the date of filing the claim petition.

8. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid impugned judgment and award, the claimant/appellant has preferred the instant appeal claiming enhancement of the awarded sum on the grounds, inter-alia, as follows-

“ 1. That the learned Tribunal was not justified at all in assessing the compensation of Rs.3,12,000/-. The learned Tribunal is required to award such compensation which the facts of the case is just, fair and reasonable.

2. That the learned trial Court has failed to consider the statutory provision of Section 171 of the MV Act, which postulates that where any Claims Tribunal allows a claim for compensation made under the Act, such Tribunal may direct that in addition to the amount of compensation simple interest shall also be paid at such rate and from such date not earlier than the date of making the claim as it may specify in this behalf;

3. That the learned Tribunal has not considered the evidence on records and thereby arrived at erroneous finding and judgment.”

9. In the instant appeal the grievance of the appellant is that the learned Tribunal erred in assessing the income of the deceased and resultantly, appropriate compensation has not been awarded for the death of the claimant’s son in motor vehicular accident. It may pertinently be pointed out that the strict procedure of the Code of Civil Procedure is not applicable to a claim proceeding under the Motor Vehicles Act. The Tribunal is, therefore, free to follow any procedure which it considers expedient to achieve the requirement of natural justice and fair play in determining the compensation. The onus lies on the claimant to prove the income of the deceased and as such, a bare assertion in the claim petition in that behalf is not sufficient to discharge that onus. A perusal of the impugned judgment and award, it is noticed that admittedly the deceased was a handyman of the offending bus bearing registration No. AS-01-7513. Although the claimant claimed that the deceas