High Court of Chhattisgarh
Case Details
1 HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 1021 of 2020 NAFR 1 - Smt. Savita Sahu Wd/o Lt. Vijay Sahu, Aged About 42 Years R/o Village Ambagarh Chowki, Ward No. 02, P.S. And Tahsil Ambagarh Chowki, District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh, Rajnandgaon, District : 2 - Prateek Sahu S/o Lt. Vijay Sahu, Aged About 17 Years R/o Village Ambagarh Chowki, Ward No. 02, P.S. And Tahsil Ambagarh Chowki, District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh District Rajnandgaon, : 3 - Vivek Sahu, S/o Lt. Vijay Sahu, Aged About 12 Years R/o Village Ambagarh Chowki, Ward No. 02, P.S. And Tahsil Ambagarh Chowki, District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh District Rajnandgaon, :
Legal Reasoning
4 - Smt. Jain Bai Wd/o. Late Dukhuram Sahu, Aged About 63 Years R/o Village Ambagarh Chowki, Ward No. 02, P.S. And Tahsil Ambagarh Chowki, District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh, District : Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh versus ... Appellants 1 - Ramkishan Yadav S/o Late Baliram Yadav, Aged About 45 Years R/o Village Joratarai (Bandha Bazar), P.S. Ambagarh Chowki, District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh...................... (Driver Of Bus No. C.G.-08-M-0221), District : Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh 2 - Mo. Anish Aged About 50 Years R/o Bharat Travells, Old Bus Stand, Rajnandgaon, Tahsil And District Rajnandgaon Chhattisgarh................(Owner Of Bus No. C.G.-08-M- Chhattisgarh 0221), Rajnandgaon, District : 3 - The New India Insurance Co. Ltd., Branch Office (460302), Parakh Bhawan, Station Road Durg (Chhattisgarh)............(Insurer Of Bus No. C.G.-08-M-0221), District : Durg, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) For Appellants : Mr. Satyendra Shrivas on behalf of Mr. Rakesh Thakur, For Respondent No. 1 & : Mr. Pranav Tiwari on behalf of Mr. Prashant Tiwari, Advocate 2 For Respondent No. 3 Advocate : Mr. Qamrul Aziz, Advocate Hon'ble Shri Justice Sachin Singh Rajput, Order on Board 12.09.2025 1) This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short MV Act) has been filed by the appellants/claimants, being aggrieved by the award dated 22.02.2019 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, 2 Rajnandgaon, District- Rajnandgaon (C.G.) (for short ‘learned Tribunal’) in Claim Case No. 15/2018. 2) By the impugned award, the learned Tribunal has awarded compensation of Rs. 33,55,402/- to the appellants/claimants, on account of the death of deceased Vijay Sahu in an accident that took place on 16.07.2017 by rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle (Mini Bus) bearing Registration No. CG-08-M-0221 by respondent No.1 Driver, owned by respondent No. 2 and insured with respondent No.3/Insurance company. As a result of the said accident, the deceased suffered grievous injuries and died during treatment in hospital. 3) As per the pleadings, the deceased/ Vijay Sahu was aged about 48 years and was engaged in the business of vegetable selling and earning a monthly income of Rs. 24,219/-. The appellants/claimants were dependent upon the income of the deceased. 4) The respondent No. 1 & 2 filed their written statement and denied the averment of the claim application. Respondent No.3 /Insurance company in usual course, denied the averments of the claim application and pleaded that the driver of the offending vehicle did not have valid and effective driving licence and there is a violation of terms and conditions of insurance policy. 5) On the basis of the above pleadings, the learned Tribunal has framed issues and after appreciating the material available on record decided the same in favour of the appellants/claimants and awarded above stated compensation. 6) Learned counsel for the appellants/claimants submits that the income of the deceased and the multiplier have been rightly assessed by the learned Tribunal. However, no addition towards future prospects has been made, and adequate 3 compensation under the heads of parental and filial consortium has not been awarded. Hence, suitable enhancement may be made by this Court. 7) Learned counsel for the respondents supports the award and submits that, in view of the evidence available on record and the findings of the learned Tribunal, just and proper compensation has been awarded. Therefore, no interference is warranted by this Court. 8) I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions and perused the records. 9) The learned Tribunal determined the annual income of the deceased at Rs. 2,90,628/-. After deducting one-fourth towards personal expenses and applying the multiplier of 13, and further adding the amounts awarded under the heads of consortium to the appellants/claimants and medical treatment of the deceased, the Tribunal awarded the impugned compensation. However, it appears that no addition was made towards future prospects in the income. Therefore, considering the evidence available on record, the age of the deceased, the date of accident, the number of dependents, and the nature of employment, this Court is of the considered view that the annual income of the deceased may safely be taken at Rs. 2,90,628/-. 10) In light of the above and taking guidance from the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of National Insurance Company Ltd. V. Pranay Sethi and others; (2017) 16 SCC 680, Sarla Verma & Ors. Vs. Delhi Transport Corporation & Ors; (2009) 6 SCC 121 and Magma General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nanu Ram @ Chuhru Ram & Ors; (2018) 18 SCC 130, this Court is recomputing the compensation as below:- S.N Particular Awarded by this Court 1. 2. Yearly Income of the deceased Future Prospect 25% 2,90,628/- 2,90,628 X25%=72,657/- 4 3. 4. Yearly Income Monthly Income Tax deduction Net Yearly Income Personal expenditure 1/4 Yearly dependency 5. 6. 7. Multiplier of 13 applied to assess 8. 9. loss of yearly dependency Funeral Expenses Loss of estate Medical Bill 10. Spousal, Parental and Filial 2,90,628+72,657=3,63,285/- 3,000/- 3,63,285 -3,000=3,60,285/- 3,60,285/4= 90,071/- 3,60,285-90,071=2,70,214/- 2,70,214 X13= 35,12,782/- 15,000/- 15,000/- 38,818/- as awarded by learned tribunal 1,60,000/- (40,000/- each to A-1 to consortium Total compensation A-4) Rs. 40,44,600/- 11) For the forgoing reasons, the appeal is allowed in part. The amount of compensation of Rs.33,55,402/- awarded by the Tribunal is enhanced to Rs. 40,44,600/-. Hence, after deducting the amount of Rs. 33,55,402/-, the appellants/claimants are held entitled for an additional amount of Rs. 7,29,198/-. The additional amount shall carry interest @6% per anuum from the date of appeal i.e. 05.08.2020. The impugned award stands modified to the above extent. 12) The respondent No. 3 insurance company is directed to deposit the amount of compensation enhanced by this Court within a period of 60 days. On such deposit being made, the learned Tribunal shall pass an appropriate order with regard to apportionment, investment and disbursement of enhanced amount to appellants/claimants. 13) Consequently, the appeal is partly allowed. Sd/- (Sachin Singh Rajput) Judge HIFZURRAHMAN ANSARI Digitally signed by HIFZURRAHMAN ANSARI Date: 2025.09.17 16:57:44 +0530 H.Ansari