1 2026:CGHC:18897 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 963 of 2023 1 - Smt. Malti Baghel W/o Late Dhaneshwar Baghel Aged About 36 Years Occupation - House Work, R/o Village- Baneya, Police Station And Tahsil - Sitapur, District - Surguja, Chhattisgarh. 2 - Ku. Gayatri D/o Late Dhaneshwar Baghel Aged About 20 Years Occupation - House Work, R/o Village- Baneya, Police Station And Tahsil - Sitapur, District - Surguja, Chhattisgarh. 3 - Ku. Manisha D/o Late Dhaneshwar Baghel Aged About 18 Years Occupation - House Work, R/o Village- Baneya, Police Station And Tahsil - Sitapur, District - Surguja, Chhattisgarh. 4 - Ku. Anuradha Singh D/o Late Dhaneshwar Baghel Aged About 15 Years Occupation - Student, Minor Through Natural Guardian Mother Smt. Malti Baghel W/o Late Dhaneshwar Baghel, R/o Village- Baneya, Police Station And Tahsil - Sitapur, District - Surguja, Chhattisgarh. 5 - Om Prakash Singh S/o Late Dhaneshwar Baghel Aged About 11 Years Occupation - Student, Minor Through Natural Guardian Mother Smt. Malti Baghel W/o Late Dhaneshwar Baghel, R/o Village- Baneya, Police Station And Tahsil - Sitapur, District - Surguja, Chhattisgarh. ... Appellants versus 1 - Amrendra Kumar Yadav S/o Shiv Prasad Yadav Aged About 41 Years Occupation - Vehicle Driver, R/o Village - Molnapur, Post - Molnapur, Police Station - Didarganj, District - Ajamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Vehicle Driver. 2 - Jitendra Yadav S/o Shiv Prasad Yadav Aged About 50 Years Occupation - Transporting, Resident Of Village And Post- Molnapur, Police Station - Didarganj, District - Ajamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), At Present Resident Of Shri Krishna Trailer Service, Power House Road, Raurkela, District - Sundargarh, Odissa, Vehicle Owner. 3 - Branch Manager Tata A.I.G. General Insurance Company Limited, Branch Office- Peninsula Business Park, Tower A. 15the Floor, G.K. Marg Lower Parel Mumbai, P.I.N. - 400013, Through Branch Manager, Tata A.I.G. General Insurance Company Limited, Branch PAWAN KUMAR Digitally signed by PAWAN KUMAR Date: 2026.04.24 17:02:36 +0530 2 Office, First Floor, 106-7, Velifort Ozon, Bilaspur Road, Near Fafadih Chowk, Devendra Nagar, Raipur Chhattisgarh, P.I.N.-492001, Insurance Company. ... Respondent(s) For Appellant(s) : Mr. Vikash Pandey, Advocate For Respondent Nos. 1 & 2 : Mr. Rishabh Gupta, Advocate For Respondent No. 3 Mr. Harneet Kaur, Advocate Hon’ble Shri Justice Sachin Singh Rajput Order on Board 24/04/2026 Heard on IA No. 01 – application for condonation of delay in filing the appeal. 2. For the reasons mentioned in the application, the same is allowed and the delay in filing the appeal is hereby condoned. 3. With the consent of the parties the matter is heard finally. 4. Challenge in this appeal is to an award dated 02.02.2023 passed in Motor Accident Claim Case No. 246 of 2021 by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Surguja (Ambikapur), CG by which against a claim of Rs. 31,35,000/-, the learned Tribunal has awarded compensation of Rs. 12,51,250/- in favour of the appellants on account of death of the deceased Dhaneshwara Baghel in an accident that took place on 13.10.2021 by rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle tailor bearing registration No. OR 14 R 3068 by respondent No. 1/driver, owned by respondent No. 2/owner and insured with respondent No. 3 / insurance company. 5. As per pleading of the claim application, the deceased died on account of the said accident, he was a mason and was earning Rs. 15,000/- per month. 6. The claim application was resisted by the respondents on various grounds and denied the averments of the claim application and respondent No. 3 / insurance company pleaded that there is violations of terms and conditions of the insurance policy. The learned Tribunal framed issues on 3 the basis of the pleadings and decided the same in favour of the claimants and awarded the above stated compensation. 7. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the deceased was aged about 38 years and was working as a mason being a skilled labour. It is contended that he was earning Rs. 15,000/- per month however, the learned Tribunal has erroneously assessed his monthly income only Rs. 8750/-. Therefore, it is prayed that a suitable enhancement may be made. 8. Learned counsel for the respondent supports the impugned award and submits that no documentary evidence with regard to the occupation and income of the deceased was produced. It is therefore contended that the learned Tribunal has rightly awarded just compensation and no interference is warranted. 9. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the records. 10. Taking into consideration the submissions and also evidence on record, age of the deceased; minimum wages; number of dependents including wife four children i.e. two minor children aged about 15 and 11 year to make the compensation just, this Court is inclined to take the monthly income of the deceased to Rs. 11,000/- per month. In light of the decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matters of Smt. Sarla Verma and others VS. Delhi Transport Corporation and another reported in (2009) 6 SCC 121 and National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Pranay Sethi reported in (2017) 16 SCC 680 and Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors; (2018) 18 SCC 130 this Court computes the compensation in the following manner:- S. No. Description Amount 1. Monthly income 11000/- 2. 25% Future prospect 2750/- 3. Total Monthly Income (11000+2750) 13750/- 4. Total Yearly Income (13750x12) 1,65,000/- 5. 1/4 Deduction for personal expenses of deceased 41250/- 4 6. Net income 123750/- 7. Multiplier of 15 applied to assess total loss of dependency 18,56250/- 8. Funeral Expenses 16500/- 9. Loss of estate 16500/- 10. Spousal consortium 44000/- 11. Parental consortium 160000/- 12. Total compensation 20,93,250/- 11. For the forgoing reasons, the appeal is allowed in part. The amount of compensation of Rs. 12,51,250/- awarded by learned tribunal is enhanced to Rs. 20,93,2500/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs. 12,51,250/-, the claimants are held entitled for an additional amount of Rs. 8,42,000/-. The additional amount shall carry interest @ 6% per annum from the date of appeal i.e. 12.06.2023. The impugned award stands modified to the above extent. 12. The Insurance Company is directed to deposit the enhanced amount of compensation within 60 days. After deposit Rs. 1,50,000/- (each) shall be invested as fixed deposit in a nationalized bank for a period of two years in the name of appellant Nos. 2 to 4; Rs. 1,50,000/- shall be invested as fixed deposit in a nationalized bank for a period of three years in the name of appellant No. 5; Rs. 2,00,000/- shall be invested as fixed deposit in a nationalized bank for a period of two years in the name of appellant No. 1. Remaining amount shall be paid to appellant No. 1 through bank transaction/account payee cheque. 13. No cost. Sd/- (Sachin Singh Rajput) JUDGE Pawan