1 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 1042 of 2020 1 - Smt. Rajkumari W/o Late Muniver Aged About 34 Years Occupation House Wife, R/o Village Bhelaikala, P. S. Dhourpur, Tahsil Lundra (Dhourpur) District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh 2 - Himmat Kumar Toppo S/o Late Muniver Aged About 15 Years Occupation Student, Appellant No. 02, Is Minor Thorough The Natural Guardian Mother Appellant No. 01, Smt. Rajkumari W/o Late Muniver, R/o Village Bhelaikala, P. S. Dhourpur, Tahsil Lundra (Dhourpur) District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh 3 - Ku. Priyanshi D/o Late Muniver Aged About 12 Years Occupation Student, Appellant No. 03, Is Minor Thorough The Natural Guardian Mother Appellant No. 01, Smt. Rajkumari W/o Late Muniver, R/o Village Bhelaikala, P. S. Dhourpur, Tahsil Lundra (Dhourpur) District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh 4 - Smt. Mulo W/o Ropan Aged About 55 Years Occupation House Wife, R/o Village Bhelaikala, P. S. Dhourpur, Tahsil Lundra (Dhourpur) District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh 5 - Ropan S/o Late Bandhan Aged About 60 Years Occupation Nil, R/o Village Bhelaikala, P. S. Dhourpur, Tahsil Lundra (Dhourpur) District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh ... Appellants versus 1 - Deepak Jaiswal S/o Luxman Jaiswal Aged About 30 Years R/o Village Gagouli, P. S. And Tahsil Lundra (Dhourpur) District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh 2 - The Divisional Manager Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. Division Office Near Ambedkar Chowk Manendragarh Road, Ambikapur District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) For Appellants : Mr. Shubham Tiwari on behalf of Mr. A. N. Pandey, Advocate For Respondent No. 2 : Ms. Swati Agrawal on behalf of Mr. Pankaj Agrawal, Advocate 2 Hon'ble Shri Justice Sachin Singh Rajput, Order on Board 10.09.2025 1) This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short MV Act) has been filed by the appellants/claimants, being aggrieved by the award dated 27.01.2020 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Ambikapur, District- Surguja (C.G.) (for short ‘learned Tribunal’) in Claim Case No. 222/2018. 2) By the impugned award, the learned Tribunal has awarded compensation of Rs. 7,78,750/- to the appellants/claimants, on account of the death of deceased Muniver in an accident that took place on 09.07.2018 by rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle (Safari) bearing Registration No. CG-15-CZ- 4700 by respondent No.1 Driver-cum-owner and insured with respondent No.2/Insurance company. As a result of the said accident, the deceased died on the spot. 3) As per the pleadings, the deceased/ Muniver was aged about 42 years and was working as masion and driver and earning a monthly income of Rs. 9,000/-. The appellants/claimants were dependent upon the income of the deceased. 4) The respondent No. 1 filed his written statement and denied the averment of the claim application. Respondent No.2 /Insurance company in usual course, denied the averments of the claim application and pleaded that the driver of the offending vehicle did not have valid and effective driving licence and there is a violation of terms and conditions of insurance policy. 3 5) On the basis of the above pleadings, the learned Tribunal has framed issues and after appreciating the material available on record decided the same in favour of the appellants/claimants and awarded above stated compensation. 6) Learned counsel for the appellants/claimants submits that the amount of compensation is on the lower side and consortium has not been granted. Hence, suitable enhancement may be made by this Court. 7) Learned counsels for the respondent No.2 supports the award and submits that in view of evidence available on record and findings of the learned Tribunal is justified and just compensation has been awarded. 8) I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions and perused the records. 9) Considering the evidence available on record; age of the deceased; date of accident; nature of job; this Court is of the view that Rs. 8,500/- can be safely taken as monthly income of the deceased. 10) In light of the above and taking guidance from the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of National Insurance Company Ltd. V. Pranay Sethi and others; (2017) 16 SCC 680, Sarla Verma & Ors. Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation & Ors; (2009) 6 SCC 121 and Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors; (2018) 18 SCC 130, this Court is recomputing the compensation as below:- S.N Particular Awarded by this Court 1. Monthly Income of the deceased 8,500/- 2. Future Prospect 25% 8,500 X25%=2,125/- 3. Net Income 8,500+2,125=10,625/- 4. Yearly income 10,625 X12=1,27,500/- 5. Personal expenditure 1/4 1,27,500/4= 31,875/- 6. Yearly dependency 1,27,500-31,875=95,625/- 7. Multiplier of 14 applied to assess 95,625 X14= 13,38,750/- 4 loss of dependency 8. Funeral Expenses 15,000/- 9. Loss of estate 15,000/- 10. Filial consortium 2,00,000/- (40,000/- each to A-1 to A-5) Total compensation Rs. 15,68,750/- 11) For the forgoing reasons, the appeal is allowed in part. The amount of compensation of Rs.7,78,750/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs. 15,68,750/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs. 7,78750/-, the appellants/claimants are held entitled for an additional amount of Rs. 7,90,000/-. The additional amount shall carry interest @6% per anuum from the date of appeal i.e. 13.07.2020. The impugned award stands modified to the above extent. 12) The respondent No. 2 insurance company is directed to deposit the amount of compensation enhanced by this Court within a period of 60 days. On such deposit being made, the learned Tribunal shall pass an appropriate order with regard to apportionment, investment and disbursement of enhanced amount to appellants/claimants Nos. 1 to 5. 13) Consequently, the appeal is partly allowed. Sd/- (Sachin Singh Rajput) Judge H.Ansari HIFZURRAHMAN ANSARI Digitally signed by HIFZURRAHMAN ANSARI Date: 2025.09.17 18:15:02 +0530