1 2025:CGHC:45023 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 1031 of 2022 1 - Smt. Salini, Wd/o. Late Ajay Kumar, Aged About 21 Years, R/o. Village Khapridand, Post Pakriya, Thana Mulmula, Tahsil Pamgarh, District - Janjgir Champa, At Present R/o. Near Old Panchayat Bhawan, Nayapara, Thana - Sirgitti, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. 2 - Amrika Bai Nayak, W/o. Sudharam Nayak, Aged About 47 Years, R/o. Village Khapridand, Post Pakriya, Thana Mulmula, Tahsil Pamgarh, District - Janjgir Champa, At Present R/o. Near Old Panchayat Bhawan, Nayapara, Thana - Sirgitti, District Bilaspur Chhattisgarh. 3 - Sudharam Nayak, S/o. Dhan Singh Nayak, Aged About 50 Years, R/o. Village Khapridand, Post Pakriya, Thana Mulmula, Tahsil Pamgarh, District - Janjgir Champa, At Present R/o. Near Old Panchayat Bhawan, Nayapara, Thana - Sirgitti, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. ... Appellants Claimants versus ASHOK SAHU Digitally signed by ASHOK SAHU Date: 2025.09.03 17:15:12 +0530 2 1- Omprakash Devar, S/o. Har Prasad Devar, Aged About 23 Years, R/o. Vrindavan Malahat, Masturi, Tahsil - Masturi, District Bilaspur Chhattisgarh. ……...(Driver) 2- Basant Bhat, S/o. Diva Bhat, Aged About 46 Years, R/o. Village Pakariya, Pamgarh, Thana- Pamgarh, District Janjgir-Champa Chhattisgarh. ……..(Owner) 3- Branch Manager, Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited, Branch Office - Shop No. T/8, Galwani Chambers, Vyapar Vihar Road, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. ……..(Insurer) ... Respondents For Appellants : Mr. Arvind Prasad, Advocate For Respondent No.3. : Mr. Sourabh Gupta, Advocate (Single Bench) Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal Judgment on Board 03.09.2025 1. This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been preferred by the appellants/claimants seeking enhancement of the amount of compensation, challenging the impugned award dated 02.07.2022 passed by learned 8th Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur in Claim Case No.444/2020, whereby an amount of Rs. 18,36,944/- has 3 been awarded as compensation to the claimants for the death of Ajay Kumar Nayak, who was working as Driver, aged about 26 years, at the time of incident. 2. Appellants, who are wife, mother & father of the deceased Ajay Kumar Nayak, filed an application under Section 166 of the Act of 1988 before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (for brevity “Claims Tribunal”) seeking compensation to the tune of Rs. 54,30,000/- pleading therein that on the date of accident, deceased Ajay Kumar Nayak was aged about 26 years and was a sole bread earner of the family and on account of his untimely death in the accident, the appellants have suffered economical and psychological difficulties. 3. Learned Claims Tribunal, upon appreciation of pleadings and evidence placed on record by respective parties, held that deceased Ajay Kumar Nayak died in the accident arising out of rash & negligent driving of the offending vehicle driven by the respondent No.1, owned by the respondent No.2 and insured by the respondent No.3. Breach of conditions of insurance policy was not found to be proved and after calculating the amount of compensation, the learned Claims Tribunal awarded Rs. 18,36,944/- as total compensation with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of claim application. 4 4. Mr. Arvind Prasad, learned counsel for the appellants, would submit that the deceased was skilled driver as stated in para 2 of the statement of Salini Nayak, wife of deceased and the learned Claims Tribunal has awarded very meager amount, as the Claims Tribunal erred in assessing income of deceased as Rs.8,860/- per month, which should be Rs. 10,290/- as per Chhattisgarh Minimum Wages Notification issued by the office of the Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh. Therefore, the instant appeal be allowed and the amount of compensation awarded by the learned Claims Tribunal may be enhanced suitably. 5. Mr. Sourabh Gupta, learned counsel for the insurance company/respondent No.3 would submit that the appellants have failed to prove the exact income of deceased by producing clinching and admissible piece of evidence, hence, the learned Claims Tribunal is justified in assessing income of deceased on notional basis. The amount of compensation awarded by the learned Claims Tribunal is just and proper, which does not call for any interference. 6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions made herein-above and gone through the records minutely. 5 7. Learned Claims Tribunal assessed the monthly income of deceased Ajay Kumar Nayak to be Rs.8,860/- per month, however, in the opinion of this Court, as per the Chhattisgarh Minimum Wages Notification issued by the office of Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh for skilled labour, the monthly income of the deceased should be Rs.10,290/- per month, which comes to Rs. 1,23,480/- per annum. 8. Thus, in light of the aforesaid discussion and in light of the judgments of the Supreme Court rendered in the matters of National Insurance Company Ltd. V. Pranay Sethi 1, Sarla Verma & Ors. Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation & Ors2 and Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors 3 , this Court is computing the compensation as below:- Heads Compensation awarded by the Tribunal Compensation awarded by this Court Income as per minimum wages Rs. 8,860 x 12 = Rs. 1,06,320/- Rs. 10,290 x 12 = Rs. 1,23,480/- Add future prospects @ 40% Rs. 42,528 + Rs. 1,06,320/- = Rs. 1,48,848/- Rs. 49,392 + Rs.1,23,480 = Rs. 1,72,872/- Deduction of 1/3 towards personal expenses Rs. 1,48,848 – 49,616 = Rs.99,232/- Rs. 1,72,872 – 57,624 = Rs.1,15,248/- Multiplier of 11 Rs. 16,86,944/- Rs. 19,59,216/- 1 (2017) 16 SCC 680 2 (2009) 6 SCC 121 3 (2018) 18 SCC 130 6 Loss of consortium to each claimant Rs. 40,000 x 3 = Rs. 1,20,000/- Rs. 40,000 x 3 = Rs. 1,20,000/- Loss of Estate Rs. 15,000/- Rs. 15,000/- Funeral Expenses Rs. 15,000/- Rs. 15,000/- Total Rs. 18,36,944/- Rs. 21,09,216/- 9. In view of the aforesaid analysis, the amount of compensation of Rs. 18,36,944/- awarded by the Claims Tribunal is enhanced to Rs. 21,09,216/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs. 18,36,944/-, the appellants are entitled for an additional amount of Rs. 2,72,272/-. The concerned respondent is directed to deposit the amount of compensation as enhanced by this Court within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of copy of this order. The additional amount of compensation shall carry interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of claim application before the Tribunal till its realization. Rest of the conditions of the impugned award shall remain intact. 10. Accordingly, this appeal is partly allowed and the impugned award is modified to the extent as indicated herein-above. Sd/- (Sanjay K. Agrawal) Judge Ashok