JUDGEMENT

1. The appellant-Insurance company has challenged award dated 31.05.2013 passed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Ramban (hereinafter referred to as the 'Tribunal') whereby the respondents-claimants have been held entitled to an amount of Rs. 5,00,000/- as compensation on account of death of one Mohd. Rafiq Malik who is stated to have died on 01.02.2011 as a result of motor vehicular accident involving vehicle bearing No. JK 03/4413.

2. It has been contended by the appellant-Insurance Company that the income of the deceased was pleaded and proved to be more than Rs. 40,000/- per annum, therefore, it was not open to the Tribunal to scale it down to Rs. 40,000/- per annum so as to bring the claim petition within the parameters of Section 163-A of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act of 1988'). It has also been contended that, while calculating the compensation, the Tribunal has made deduction and applied multiplier as per the ratio laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Sarla Verma and others v. Delhi Transport Corporation and another