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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH

FAO No. 4116 of 2023 (O&M)

Reserved On: 20.01.2026

Pronounced On: 03.02.2026

Parveen Kumar and another

...Appellants

Versus

Ram Dass and another

...Respondents

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARKESH MANUJA

Present:- Mr. Shubham Mirok, Advocate for

Mr. J.S. Thind, Advocate

for the appellants-claimants.

Mr. Kushager Goyal, Advocate

for respondent No. 1.

Mr. Hritik Sharma, Advocate and

Mr. Vishal Aggarwal, Advocate

for respondent No. 2-Insurance Company.

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HARKESH MANUJA, J.

By way of present appeal, challenge has been laid to

an award dated 09.03.2023 passed by the learned Motor

Accident Claims Tribunal, Sirsa (for brevity, “the Tribunal”)

whereby an amount of Rs. 4,88,000/- was awarded as

compensation to the appellants/claimants along with interest @

6% per annum from the date of institution of claim petition till its

realization on account of death of Jatin Chugh in a motor

vehicular accident, occurred on 30.11.2020.

DINESH KUMAR

2026.02.03 18:07

I attest to the accuracy and

integrity of this document

(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:4)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:6)(cid:11)(cid:4)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:12)(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:18)(cid:4)(cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) -2-

(cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4)

FACTS

[2] A claim petition came to be filed at the instance of

appellants/claimants before the learned Tribunal, praying for

grant of compensation to the tune of Rs. 50,00,000 (Rupees fifty

lakhs only) on account of death of Jatin Chugh in a motor

vehicular accident which took place on 30.11.2020 while alleging

rash and negligent driving of respondent No. 1/driver.

[3] After going through the pleadings and evaluating the

evidence led by both the parties, learned Tribunal arrived at a

conclusion that the accident occurred on account of rash and

negligent driving of respondent No.1/driver, holding respondent

No.2/Insurance Company liable and awarded compensation in

the following manner:-

S.No. Nature Amount (in Rs.)

1. Annual Income of deceased Rs. 30,000/-

2. Dependency (1/2) Rs. 15,000/-

3. Future Prospects (40%) Rs. 21,000/-

4. Multiplier (18) Rs. 3,78,000/-

5. Loss of Estate Rs. 15,000/-

6. Funeral Expenses Rs. 15,000/-

7. Loss of Consortium Rs. 40,000/-

each

Total Compensation Rs. 4,88,000/-

[4] Being aggrieved of the award dated 09.03.2023

passed by the learned Tribunal, the present appeal was

preferred by the appellants/claimants for enhancement of

DINESH KUMAR

2026.02.03 18:07

I attest to the accuracy and

integrity of this document

(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:4)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:6)(cid:11)(cid:4)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:12)(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:18)(cid:4)(cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) -3-

(cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4) (cid:4)

compensation. Facts, as specified in the claim petition, about the

manner of the accident and the issue regarding negligence of the

driver recorded in favour of the appellants/claimants by the

learned Tribunal, being not under challenge, are not being

repeated here for the sake of brevity.

ARGUMENTS ON BEHALF OF LEARNED COUNSEL FOR

THE APPELLANTS/CLAIMANTS.

[5] Learned counsel for the appellants/claimants

submitted that the impugned award dated 09.03.2023 passed by

the learned Tribunal suffers from grave illegality, material

irregularity and erroneous appreciation of evidence insofar as the

assessment of compensation is concerned. It was submitted that

the learned Tribunal failed to consider the age, future prospects

and actual income of the deceased besides wrongly applying the

deduction of ½ towards personal expenses instead of settled

norm of 1/3^rd despite clear dependency, and erroneously

assessed the notional income on the lower side. Furthermore, it

was submitted that the amount of compensation granted under

conventional heads was not in consonance with the settled law,

therefore, he prayed for enhancement of