Instant appeal has been filed by the appellants against the judgment and award dated 04.03.2004 passed by the Judge, MACT, Sojat District Pali in Motor Accident Claim Case No. 62/2002 whereby, the learned Tribunal while partly allowing the claim petition of the claimants, granted compensation in the sum of Rs. 1,40,000/- alongwith interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of claim petition till its recovery. As per facts of the case, the claimants filed a claim petition to the effect that on 13.12.2001 at around 5:45 PM the wife of appellant no.1, Smt. Manju Rai who was sitting behind the motorcycle of respondent no.1, fell off from the motorcycle due to rash and negligent driving of respondent no.1 and suffered grievous injuries and later on succumbed to the injuries. In the claim petition, the appellants have attributed cause of accident as rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle. It is stated that at the time of death, Manju Rai was 28 years old who did household work & stitching and used to earn Rs. 6000/- per month. While showing his monthly income as Rs.6000/-, his dependants filed a claim petition under Section 140 read with Section 166 of the Act before the learned Tribunal. In the claim petition, the appellants claimed total amount of compensation to the tune of Rs.40,00,000/- under various heads. For substantiating the claim, requisite documents were also submitted with the claim petition by the appellants.

The claim is contested by respondents No.1 & 2 and the facts averred in the claim petition are refuted. The respondent no.1 denied the accident to be caused by his motorcycle, whereas, respondent no.2 attributed negligence on the part of driver for occurrence of the accident and violation of the conditions of the policy.

On the strength of pleadings of rival parties, the learned Tribunal settled five issues for determination which reads as under :-

“1. Whether on 13.12.2001 at 5:45 PM near Pavrad river, non-applicant no.1 Parasmal drove motorcycle bearing Engine No. OIL 18 M 13847 Chasis No. OIL 20 P 14880 rash and negligently at high speed as a result of which pillion rider Manju Rai fell down and succumbed to injuries ?

2. Whether claimants are entitled to get compensation as claimed in the claim petition, if yes, then to what extent and whether non-applicants are liable to pay the amount of compensation to the claimants?

3. Whether driver of the offending vehicle was having valid driving license which amounted to breach of policy conditions and non-applicant no.2 Insurance company is not liable to pay the compensation ?

4. Whether the offending motorcycle at the time of accident was not being used as per terms and conditions of the insurance policy and registered and therefore, non-applicant no. 2 is not liable to pay the compensation?

5. Relief.

After conclusion of trial, the learned Tribunal heard arguments and decided Issue No.1, relating to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle, in favour of the appellants and against the respondents. While switching on to Issue No.2, for determining the quantum of compensation, the learned Tribunal, after analyzing the evidence, quantified monthly income of the deceased as Rs.900/- per month and by applying multiplier of ten, awarded compensation to the tune of Rs. 1,08,000/- for loss of services. That apart, under other heads, appellants were awarded Rs.25,000/- for loss of love and affection of first appellants’ wife and mother of appellant no.2 & 3. The total amount of compensation was, thus, determined to the tune of Rs.1,40,000/-. It is, in this background, appellants are before this Court seeking enhancement of compensation awarded by the learned Tribunal.

Learned counsel for the appellants, submits that the learned Tribunal has not appreciated the evidence and materials available on record for assessing monthly income of the deceased inasmuch as there were cogent materials on record to prove monthly income of the deceased to the tune