Page No.1 of 6 IN MAC-1296-2022 2025:CGHC:40863 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 1296 of 2022 [Arising out of award dated 21.10.2022, passed in Claim Case No.03/2019 (Smt. Renu Kumari and others v. Uday Vishwakarma and others), by the 3rd Addl. Motro Accidents Claims Tribunal, Surguja (Ambikapur)] 1 - Smt. Renu Kumari W/o Late Shri Prem Kumar Ravi Aged About 25 Years Residence Of Village - Rankakala (Shivnala) Near Temple, Post Ranka, District- Gadwa (Jharkhand) 2 - Minor Rajnandani D/o Late Shri Prem Kumar Ravi Aged About 3 Years Minor Through Natural Guardian Mother Smt. Renu Kumari W/o Shri Prem Kumar Ravi Residence Of Village - Rankakala (Shivnala) Near Temple, Post Ranka, District- Gadwa (Jharkhand) 3 - Dipak Kumar S/o Shri Rajuram Aged About 19 Years Occupation Student, Residence Of Village - Rankakala (Shivnala) Near Temple, Post Ranka, District- Gadwa (Jharkhand) 4 - Rajuram S/o Late Shri Bhuluram Aged About 46 Years Occupation- Agriculturist Residence Of Village - Rankakala (Shivnala) Near Temple, Post Ranka, District- Gadwa (Jharkhand) 5 - Smt. Leela Devi W/o Shri Rajuram Aged About 48 Years Occupation - House Wife, Residence Of Village - Rankakala (Shivnala) Near Temple, Post Ranka, District- Gadwa (Jharkhand) ... Appellants/ Claimants Versus 1 - Uday Vishwakarma S/o Shri Lalan Vishwakarma Aged About 37 Years R/o Village- Mayapur, Ward No. 4 Rehla Thana And District - Palamu (Jharkhand) (Driver Of Vehicle No. Cg-04-Ea-0233) 2 - Sayyed Nasim Ali S/o Shri Anwar Ali Aged About 50 Years Occupation - Vehicle Owner, Royal Bus Service R/o C-18 Sector Devendranagar Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh. (Owner Of Vehicle No. Cg-04-Ea- 0233) 3 - Branch Manager, United India Insurance Company Limited, Branch Office Raipur Chhattisgarh. Present Adds. Near Kumkum Hotel, Bramha Road- Thana And Tahsil Ambikapur, District Surguja Chhattisgarh. (Insurer Of Vehicle No. Cg-04-Ea-0233) ... Respondents [Cause-title taken from Case Information System (CIS)] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For Appellants : Mr. Sumit Shrivastava, Advocate SAIFAN KHAN Digitally signed by SAIFAN KHAN Page No.2 of 6 IN MAC-1296-2022 For Respondents : Mr. Anupam Dubey, Advocate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Single Bench: Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal (Order on Board) 13.08.2025 1. This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short the “Act of 1988”) has been preferred by the appellants/claimants seeking enhancement of amount of compensation, challenging the impugned award dated 21.10.2022, passed by the 3rd Addl. Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Surguja (Ambikapur) in Claim Case No.03/2019, whereby learned Claims Tribunal has awarded a total sum of Rs.8,44,700/- as compensation for the death of Prem Kumar Ravi, who was aged about 28 years on the date of occurrence. 2. Facts of the case, relevant for disposal of this appeal, are that on the date of occurrence i.e. 19.06.2018, while deceased- Prem Kumar Ravi was returning to his village in a bus and, when he reached near Village Nawahi, the driver (respondent No.1) of the offending vehicle i.e. Truck bearing No.CG-04-LW-3711, drove the same in rash and negligent manner and dashed the bus in which the deceased was traveling, due to which, the deceased suffered injuries and died. Thereafter, the appellants, who are wife, daughter, brother, father and mother of the deceased respectively, filed an application under Section 166 of the Act of 1988 seeking compensation to the tune of Rs.27,00,000/- pleading therein that on the date of the accident, the deceased was 28 years of age and used to earn Rs.9,000/- PM from his work of clerk at Jayswal Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.. The deceased used to Page No.3 of 6 IN MAC-1296-2022 maintain his family members including the parents and after his death, his family members have no any source of income to survive. Even otherwise, the deceased was aged about 28 years on the date of accident and was a able-bodied person and on account of his untimely death in the accident, the appellants have suffered economical and psychological difficulties. 3. Respondents No.1 & 2 – driver and owner of the offending vehicle submitted their reply to the claim application, while denying all the adverse pleadings made in the application, it was further pleaded that the accident was not caused by the aforesaid vehicle and the deceased has died on account of his own carelessness, moreover, on the date of the accident, the driver of the said vehicle was having valid driving license as well as the said vehicle (truck) was duly insured with respondent No.3, therefore, the liability of compensation lies upon the Insurance Company i.e. respondent No.3. 4. Respondent No. 3 i.e. the Insurance Company has opposed the claim application stating that the said vehicle (Truck) was being used in violation of terms and conditions of insurance policy. 5. Learned Claims Tribunal, upon appreciation of pleadings and evidence placed on record by respective parties, held that deceased Prem Kumar Ravi died in the accident arising out of rash and negligent driving of the aforesaid vehicle i.e. Truck bearing No.CG-04-LW-3711, which was driven by respondent No.01 and owned by respondent No.2 herein. Breach of conditions of insurance policy was not found to be proved, and after calculating the amount of compensation, awarded Page No.4 of 6 IN MAC-1296-2022 Rs.8,44,700/- as total compensation with interest @ 06% p.a. from the date of filing of claim application. 6. Learned counsel for the appellants would submit that learned Claims Tribunal has erred in awarding less amount of compensation in the facts of the case. Claims Tribunal erred in assessing income of deceased as Rs.7,000/- per month which should be Rs.8,100/- as per Chhattisgarh Minimum Wages Notification issued by the office of the Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh. It is further contended that the Claims Tribunal has erred in awarding compensation to the tune of Rs.40,000/- X 4 = Rs.1,60,000/- towards loss of consortium, whereas there are total 5 claimants in the present case, therefore, Rs.40,000/- X 5 = Rs.2,00,000/- ought to have been awarded as loss of consortium. As such, the instant appeal be allowed and the compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal may suitably be enhanced. 7. Learned counsel for the respondents would submit that the appellants have failed to prove nature of occupation and income of deceased by producing clinching and admissible piece of evidence, hence, the Tribunal is justified in assessing income of deceased on notional basis. The amount of compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal is just and proper which does not call for any interference. 8. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions made herein-above and went through the records with utmost circumspection. 9. Learned Claims Tribunal assessed the monthly income of Page No.5 of 6 IN MAC-1296-2022 deceased Prem Kumar Ravi to be Rs.7,000/-, however, in the opinion of this Court, as per the Chhattisgarh Minimum Wages Notification issued by the office of Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh, the monthly income of the deceased should be Rs.8,100/- PM (as per minimum wages prescribed at relevant time). Further, though compensation to the tune of Rs.40,000/- X 4 = Rs.1,60,000/- towards loss of consortium has been awarded, but it ought to have been Rs.40,000/- X 5 = Rs.2,00,000/-, as there are total 5 claimants in the present case. 10. 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:- Sr. No. Heads Compensation awarded by the Tribunal Compensation awarded by this Court 1. Income Rs.7,000 x 12 = Rs.84,000/- Rs.8,100 x 12 = Rs.97,200/- 2. Future Prospect (+) 40% i.e. Rs.33,600 = Rs.1,17,600/- (+) 40% i.e. Rs. 38,880 = Rs. 1,36,080/- 3. Deduction (-) ¼ (i.e. Rs.29,400/-) = Rs.88,200/- (-) ¼ (i.e. Rs.34,020/-) = Rs.1,02,060/- 4. Multiplier (x) 17 = Rs. 14,99,400/- (x) 17 = Rs. 17,35,020/- 1 (2017) 16 SCC 680 2 (2009) 6 SCC 121 3 (2018) 18 SCC 130 Page No.6 of 6 IN MAC-1296-2022 5. Loss of Estate Rs. 15,000/- Rs. 15,000/- 6. Funeral Expenses Rs. 15,000/- Rs. 15,000/- 7. Loss of Consortium (for appellant No.1-4) Rs.40,000/- X 4 = Rs.1,60,000/- Rs.44,000/- x 5 = Rs.2,00,000/- 8. Deducted 50% towards contributory negligence Rs.16,89,400/- (-) 50% [Held 50% liability of Truck/Bus (contributory negligence)] Rs.19,65,020/- (-) 50% [Held 50% liability of Truck/Bus (contributory negligence)] Total Rs.8,44,700/- Rs.9,82,510/- 11. In view of the aforesaid analysis, the amount of compensation of Rs.8,44,700/- awarded by the Claims Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.9,82,510/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs.8,44,700/-, the appellants are held entitled for an additional amount of Rs.1,37,810/-. The concerned respondents are directed to deposit the amount of compensation as enhanced by this Court within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. The additional amount of compensation shall carry interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of claim application before the Tribunal i.e. 01.01.2019 till its realization. Rest of the conditions of the impugned award shall remain intact. 12. Accordingly, this appeal is allowed in part and the impugned award is modified to the extent as indicated herein-above. Sd/- (Sanjay K. Agrawal) Judge s@if