1 2026:CGHC:26928 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 1005 of 2020 1 - Ramesh Kumar Koshley, S/o. Adhar Das, Aged About 45 Years, (Presently Aged About 54 Years), Resident Of Village Deveri, Tehsil Mungeli, District Bilaspur, Now District Mungeli, Chhattisgarh. 2 - Smt. Purnima Koshly, W/o. Ramesh Kumar Koshley, Aged About 41 Years (Presently Aged About 50 Years), Resident Of Village Deveri, Tehsil Mungeli, District Bilaspur Chhattisgarh, Now District : Mungeli, Chhattisgarh ... Appellants versus 1 - Gopal Singh, S/o. Sundarlal Singh, Aged About 22 Years, Village Cherhari, Police Station Dhanpuri, District Shahadol, Madhya Pradesh, Present Address House Of Dev Kishore Tarafdar, Quarter No. B /18, Police Station Bhalumuda, Tehsil Kotama, District Anup Pur, Madhya Pradesh. (Driver) 2 - Dev Kishore Tarafdar, S/o. S.K. Tarafdar, Aged About 38 Years, R/o. Village Bhalumuda, Quarter No. B/18, Police Station Bhalumuda, Tehsil Kotama , District Anup Pur, Madhya Pradesh. ... Respondents ASHOK SAHU Digitally signed by ASHOK SAHU Date: 2026.07.02 17:01:55 +0530 2 For Appellant : Mr. Anupam Dubey, Advocate For Respondents : Mr. K.P.S.Gandhi, Advocate (Single Bench) Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal Judgment on Board 01.07.2026 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 31.03.2014 passed by the learned Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Mungeli in Claim Case No.199/2011, by which the claim application of the claimants has been allowed and an amount of compensation to the tune of Rs. 1,37,500/- has been awarded to the claimants for the death of Ku. Shikha Koshley, aged about 21 years, at the time of accident. 2. Appellants, who are father & mother of deceased Ku. Shikha Koshley, 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. 19,00,000/- pleading therein that on the date of accident, deceased Ku. Shikha Koshley, aged about 21 years, was sole bread earner of the family 3 and on account of her 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 Ku. Shikha Koshley died in the accident arising out of rash & negligent driving of the offending vehicle driven by respondent No.1 & owned by respondent No.2. The learned Claims Tribunal, after calculating the amount of compensation, awarded Rs. 1,37,500/- with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of claim application. 4. Mr. Anupam Dubey, learned counsel for the appellants, would submit that the learned Claims Tribunal has awarded very meager amount, as the Claims Tribunal erred in assessing the income of deceased to be Rs.15,000/- per year, which should be Rs. 3,367/- per month i.e. Rs. 40,404/- per year, as per the Chhattisgarh Minimum Wages Notification issued by the office of the Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh, as deceased was engaged in the business of a beauty parlour. Therefore, the instant appeal be allowed and the amount of compensation awarded by the learned Claims Tribunal may be enhanced suitably. 4 5. Mr. K.P.S.Gandhi, learned counsel appearing for the respondents, 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. 7. Learned Claims Tribunal has assessed the monthly income of deceased Ku. Shikha Koshley to be Rs. 1250/- per month i.e. Rs.15,000/- per annum, 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. 3,367/- per month i.e. Rs. 40,404/- per annum, as she was engaged in the business of beauty parlour. 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 Sethi1, Sarla Verma & Ors. Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation & Ors2 and Magma General Insurance 1 (2017) 16 SCC 680 2 (2009) 6 SCC 121 5 Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors 3 , this Court is re- computing the compensation as below:- Heads Compensation awarded by the Tribunal Compensation awarded by this Court Income as per minimum wages Rs. 1250/- per month i.e. Rs. 15,000/- per annum Rs. 3,367/- per month i.e. Rs. 40,404/- per annum Future prospects Not given Add : 40% of the Income Rs. 40,404 + Rs. 16,161 = Rs. 56,565/- Deduction of 1/2 towards personal expenses Rs. 15,000 / 2 = Rs.7,500/- Rs. 56,565 / 2 = Rs. 28,282.5 Multiplier Rs. 7,500 x 17 = Rs. 1,27,500/- Rs. 28,282.5 x 18 = Rs. 5,09,085/- Loss of Estate Rs. 5,000/- Rs. 18,000/- Funeral Expenses Rs. 5,000/- Rs. 18,000/- Loss of consortium Not given Rs. 48,000/- x 2 = Rs. 96,000/- Total Rs. 1,37,500/- Rs. 6,41,085/- 8. In view of the aforesaid analysis, the amount of compensation of Rs. 1,37,500/- awarded by the Claims Tribunal is enhanced to Rs. 6,41,085/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs. 1,37,500/- already awarded by the Claims Tribunal, the appellants are entitled for an additional amount of Rs. 5,03,585/-. The concerned 3 (2018) 18 SCC 130 6 respondent is directed to deposit the amount of compensation as enhanced by this Court within a period of 45 days. The additional amount of compensation shall carry interest @ 6% 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. 9. 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