JUDGMENT :

VIKAS BAHL, J.

1. Parents and minor sister have filed the present appeal for enhancement of the amount of compensation. Vide award dated 10.07.2017, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bathinda (hereinafter to be referred as “the Tribunal”) had awarded the total amount of compensation to the tune of Rs.12,87,660/- along with interest to the appellants on account of death of Sukhpreet Singh which had occurred in a motor vehicular accident that had taken place on 06.02.2016. The only question that arises for consideration before this Court is as to whether the appellants are entitled to enhancement of compensation or not as the other aspects are not being disputed before this Court.

2. Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that in the present case, deduction which had been ordered by the Tribunal was to the extent of ½ whereas deduction should have been made to the extent of 1/3rd. It is further submitted that no benefit of future prospects has been given and thus, 40% of the income of the deceased should be taken into consideration for the purpose of future prospects. It is further argued that on account of loss of consortium, an amount of Rs.96,000/- should be awarded to the parents and further on account of loss of estate, an amount of Rs.18,000/- should be awarded. It is submitted that the transportation expenses had been taken to be Rs.3960/- whereas an amount of Rs.10,000/- should have been awarded on the said account. It is argued that notional income in the present case was taken to be Rs.7500/- whereas the Tribunal should have assessed the income of the deceased to be much higher in view of the fact that it had been proved on record that the deceased was a student of B.Com-II and was also doing a course of Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the said plea raised by the appellants had also been accepted by the Tribunal in para 22 of the award. It is submitted that in similar circumstances, the Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 28.02.2018 passed in FAO-1554-2014 titled as “Parveen Kumar and another Vs. Balbir Singh and others”, while considering the case of a student who was in fifth semester of Mechanical Engineering had observed that he had bright future and thus, his income was taken to be Rs.15,000/- per month. It is submitted that the accident in the said case had taken place in the year 2012 whereas the accident in the present case had taken place in 2016. It is argued that in the said circumstances, income should be taken as at least Rs.15,000/- per month. It is further submitted that the enhanced amount be paid to the appellants along with the interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realisation. In support of his arguments, learned counsel for the appellants has relied upon the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in case titled as Sarla Verma (Smt.) and others Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another reported as (2009) 6 SCC 121 National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Pranay Sethi and others reported as (2017) 16 SCC 680, and Magma General Insurance Company Limited Vs. Nanu Ram alias Chuhru Ram and others reported as (2018) 18 SCC 130.

3. On the other hand, learned counsel for respondent No.3- Insurance Company has submitted that since the deceased was a Bachelor thus, the Tribunal had rightly deducted 50% i.e. ½ on account of deduction. It is further argued that an amount of Rs.1,25,000/- has been awarded on account of conventional heads and thus, highest amount that can be awarded to the appellants on account of conventional heads is Rs.1,50,000/- (funeral expenses=Rs.15,000/-, loss of estate=Rs.15,000/- and consortium= Rs.40,000/-x3=Rs.1,20,000/-). It is further submitted that the rate of interest which is sought to be claimed by the appellants i.e., 9% per annum is highly excessive and the highest rate of interest that can be awarded on the additional amount of compensation is