1 CGHC010232392022 2026:CGHC:36337 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 820 of 2022 1 - Smt. Pramita W/o Late Durga Singh Aged About 23 Years Occupation - House Wife R/o Village - Shardapur (Wrongly Mention As Odari) Post- Bartikala, P.S. - Chalgli, Tahsil - Wadrafnagar District Balrampur-Ramanujganj (Chhattisgarh) 2 - A.D Arya Singh S/o Late Durga Singh Aged About 2 Years Minor Through Natural Guardian Mother Appellant No. 1 Smt. Pramita W/o Late Durga Singh. Occupation - Nill, R/o Village - Shardapur Post- Bartikala, P.S. - Chalgli, Tahsil - Wadrafnagar District Balrampur- Ramanujganj (Chhattisgarh) 3 - Abhi Singh S/o Late Durga Singh, Aged About 4 Month, Minor Through Natural Guardian Mother Appellant No. 1 Smt. Pramita W/o Late Durga Singh. Occupation - Nill, R/o Village - Shardapur Post- Bartikala, P.S. - Chalgli, Tahsil - Wadrafnagar District Balrampur- Ramanujganj (Chhattisgarh) 4 - Smt. Mankunwar W/o Hakim Singh Aged About 61 Years Occupation- House Wife R/o Village- Domanhil, P.S. And Tahsil - Chirmiri, District - Koriya (Chhattisgarh) 5 - Hakim Singh S/o Late Geda Ram Aged About 65 Years Occupation- Nill, R/o Village- Domanhil, P.S. And Tahsil - Chirmiri, District - Koriya (Chhattisgarh) ... Appellants Versus 1 - Lukeshwar Prasad Gupta S/o Sudama Prasad Gupta Aged About 37 Years R/o Occupation - Driver And Agriculture Work R/o Village - Patradih Post- Urdara P.S And Tahsil- Lundra District Sarguja, Digitally signed by HEERA LAL SAHU Date: 2026.08.17 14:15:54 +0530 2 Chhattisgarh 2 - Krishna Prasad Gupta S/o Ramkhelawan Gupta Aged About 55 Years Occupation- Agriculture Work R/o Village- Kharakona P.S. And Tahsil - Lundra District Sarguja (Chhattisgarh) 3 - The Divisional Manager, United India Insurance Company Ltd. Division Office Braham Road Near Kumkum Hotel P.S. Nagar And Tahsil - Ambikapur District Surguja, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) For Appellant/Claimants : Mr. A.N. Pandey, Advocate. For Respondent No. 3 : Mr. P.K. Tulsyan, Advocate. For respondents No. 1 & 2 : None. Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal Judgment on Board (14.08.2026) 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 the amount of compensation, challenging the impugned award dated 04.05.2022, passed in Claim Case No. 154/2021, whereby the learned Claims Tribunal has awarded a total sum of Rs. 16,57,600/- as compensation for the death of deceased Durga Singh (24-years-old) who died in a road accident which took place on 10.03.2021. 2. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the deceased, Durga Singh, was running a Kirana Shop and also was doing the work of agriculture; therefore, the income assessed by the Claims Tribunal at Rs. 7,000/- per month is on the lower side, as on the date of the accident, the minimum wages of the unskilled labourer were Rs. 8,960/-. He also submits that on the other conventional heads only Rs. 70,000/- has been granted, which is also on the lower side. Hence, the appeal be allowed, and the award passed 3 by the Claims Tribunal be suitably enhanced. 3. Learned counsel for respondent No.3/insurance company would submit that the Claims Tribunal after appreciating oral and documentary evidence available on record rightly awarded the compensation amount. Hence, the compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal is just and proper and requires no interference. 4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions made herein-above and went through the records with utmost circumspection. 5. In the case at hand, the learned Tribunal has indeed taken the deceased's monthly income to be Rs. 7,000/-. The claimants pleaded that the deceased was a shopkeeper, aged about 24 years and was earning Rs. 15,000/- per month, but they could not produce any documentary proof to substantiate their claim; therefore, it would be proper to take his monthly income of Rs. 8,960/- as per the Chhattisgarh Minimum Wages Notification issued by the office of the Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh for unskilled labour. Furthermore, only Rs. 70,000/- has been awarded on other conventional heads, which is to be 2,53,000/-. Therefore, to that extent the impugned award needs to be modified. 6. 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 Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors3, this Court is computing the compensation as below:- Sr. No. Heads Compensation awarded by the Tribunal Compensation awarded by this Court 1 Income Rs. 7,000x12 = 84,000/- Rs. 8,960x12 = 1,07,520/- 2 Future Prospects 40% of the Annual Income (i.e. 33,600) = Rs. 1,17,600/- 40% of the Annual Income (i.e. 43,008) = Rs. 1,50,528/- 1 (2017) 16 SCC 680 2 (2009) 6 SCC 121 3 (2018) 18 SCC 130 4 2. Deduction (-) 1/4 (i.e. 29,400) = 88,200/- (-) 1/4 (i.e. 37,632) = 1,12,896/- 3. Multiplier (x) 18 = 15,87,600/- (x) 18 = 20,32,128/- 4. Other conventio nal heads Rs. 70,000/- (Rs. 15,000/- + Rs. 40,000+ Rs. 15,000/-) Rs. 2,53,000/- [Rs. 16,500+ Rs. 16,500+ (Rs. 44,000 x 5)] = Total Rs. 16,57,600/- Rs. 22,85,128/- 7. In view of the aforesaid analysis, the amount of compensation of Rs.16,57,600/- awarded by the Claims Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.22,85,128/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs. 16,57,600/-, the appellants are held entitled for an additional amount of Rs.6,27,528/-. The additional amount of compensation shall carry interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing of the claim application before the Claims Tribunal till its realization. Rest of the conditions of the impugned award shall remain intact. 8. In the result, the appeal is partly allowed and the impugned award is modified to the extent as indicated herein-above. 9. The Registry is directed to communicate the claimants in writing “the enhanced amount” in this appeal as against the award made by the concerned Tribunal. The said communication be made in Hindi Deonagri language and the help of paralegal workers may be availed with a co-ordination of Secretary, Legal Aid of the concerned area wherein the claimants resides. Sd/- (Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal) Judge Saurabh