1 CGHC010221602023 2026:CGHC:42791 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 1101 of 2023 1 - Laila Panika W/o Late Basant Lal Aged About 40 Years R/o Village Lanjeet, Police Station Odgi, District Surajpur (C.G.) (Claimant) 2 - Kewla Prasad S/o Late Basant Lal Aged About 17 Years Minor Presented Through Legal Guardian Mother, Applicant No.1 Laila Panika, Wife Of Late Basant Lal, Aged About 40 Years, R/o Village Lanjeet, Police Station Odgi, District Surajpur (C.G.) (Claimant) 3 - Jawanti D/o Late Basant Lal Aged About 15 Years Minor Presented Through Legal Guardian Mother, Applicant No.1 Laila Panika, Wife Of Late Basant Lal, Aged About 40 Years, R/o Village Lanjeet, Police Station Odgi, District Surajpur (C.G.) (Claimant) ... Appellants versus 1 - Omkar Yadav S/o Siyaram Yadav Aged About 25 Years R/o Village Karkoli (Sirsiyapara), Police Station Karma, District Sonbhadra (U.P.)...........Driver Of The Offending Vehicle. 2 - Sairul Nisha W/o Munir Ahmad Aged About 50 Years R/o Dadra Mutalke, Rampur, Police Station Madihan, District Mirjapur (U.P.)...........Owner Of The Offending Vehicle. 3 - Branch Manager The New India Insurance Company Limited, Branch Office, Micro, Branch Transport Campus, Ambedkar Chowk, Banaras Road, Ambikapur, District Surguja (C.G.)..............Insurer Of The Offending Vehicle. ... Respondents Digitally signed by HEERA LAL SAHU Date: 2026.10.01 16:55:27 +0530 2 For Appellants/Claimants : Ms. Dhaneshwari Patel, Adv. on behalf of Mr. P.K. Patel, Adv. For Respondents No. 1 & 2 : None. For Respondent No. 3 : Ms. Pooja Yadav, Adv. on behalf of Mr. Shivendu Pandya, Adv. Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal Judgment on Board (01.10.2026) 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 12.05.2023, passed in Claim Case No.22/2022, whereby the learned Claims Tribunal has awarded a total sum of Rs.14,81,200/- as compensation for the death of Late Amrit Lal (19 years old), who died in a road accident which took place on 19.11.2021. 2. Learned counsel for the appellant would submit that the learned Claims Tribunal has erred in awarding a lesser amount of compensation in the facts of the case. The Claims Tribunal has assessed the income of the deceased as Rs.7,000/- per month, whereas the minimum wages were Rs. 9,280/- per month on the date of the accident i.e. 19.11.2021; therefore, the income of the deceased should be considered on the higher side. The Tribunal has also awarded a lesser amount under other conventional heads, which needs to be enhanced. Therefore, the instant appeal should be allowed, and the compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal may suitably be enhanced. 3. Learned counsel for respondent No. 3/insurance company submits that since the deceased was unmarried, the deduction towards personal and living expenses ought to be deducted as 1/2nd, whereas the tribunal has deducted 1/3rd; therefore, the impugned award is needs to be modified to that extent. 4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and went through 3 the records with utmost circumspection. 5. So far as the contention for deduction towards personal and living expenses is concerned, though the deceased was unmarried, the claimants are a total of 3 in number, out of which two are minor siblings and one is the widow mother of the deceased; therefore, the deduction of 1/3rd towards personal and living expenses would rightly be applied by the claims tribunal as per law. Hence, the objection raised by learned counsel for the insurance company is not acceptable. 6. In the case at hand, the learned Tribunal has indeed taken the monthly income of the deceased to be Rs. 7,000/-. According to the claimants, the deceased was aged about 19 years and was involved in the work of vegetable selling; he used to earn Rs. 20,000/- per month from his work, but no documents have been produced in support of this fact, hence, it would proper to take his monthly income of Rs.9,280/- as per the Chhattisgarh Minimum Wages Notification issued by the office of Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh for unskilled labour. Furthermore, in other conventional heads the Tribunal has granted only Rs.70,000/- which ought to be Rs.1,65,000/-, to that extent the impugned award needs to be modified. 7. 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. 7,000 x 12 = 84,000/- Rs. 9,280 x 12 = 1,11,360/- 1 (2017) 16 SCC 680 2 (2009) 6 SCC 121 3 (2018) 18 SCC 130 4 2. Future prospect (+)40% (i.e. Rs. 33,600) = 1,17,600/- (+)40% (i.e. Rs. 44,544) = 1,55,904/- 3. Deduction (-) 1/3 (i.e. Rs. 39,200) = 78,400/- (-) 1/3 (i.e. Rs. 51,968) = 1,03,936/- 4. Multiplier (x) 18 = 14,11,200/- (x) 18 = 18,70,848/- 5 Other conventional heads Rs. 70,000/- [15,000+15,000+40, 000] Rs. 1,65,000/- [16,500+16,500+(44,00 0x3)] Total Rs. 14,81,200/- Rs. 20,35,848/- 8. In view of the aforesaid analysis, the amount of compensation of Rs.14,81,200/- awarded by the Claims Tribunal is enhanced to Rs.20,35,848/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs.14,81,200/-, the appellants are held entitled for an additional amount of Rs.5,54,648/-. 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. 9. In the result, the appeal is partly allowed and the impugned award is modified to the extent as indicated herein-above. 10. 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 H.L. Sahu