-<'J ^ sa'^s, 's'.s ^".: {.-^S^ t IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT - BILASPUR ff, M.A.fClNO. 'Z5'> /20Q9 Dr. Gopal Sharan Tanwar aged 40 years son of Shri Chandrabhan Tanwar, resident of Pendra, tahsil Pendraroad, district Bilaspur (C.G.) (Non-AvDlicant/owner/driver} VERSUS RESPONDENTS: ci^'^^i; - (1) Smt. Semwati Yadav aged 33 years, wife of late Shri Vishwanath Yadav, (2) Ku. Prabha Yadav, aged 9 years, daughter oflate Shri Vishwanath Yadav, through legal guardian Smt. Semwati, (3) Chhotu Yadav, aged 5 years, son of late Shri ^- Vishwanath Yadav, through the legal guardian Smt. Semwati, (4) Ashok Kumar Yadav, aged 18 years, son oflate Shri Vishwanath Yadav, All are residents of village Kudkai, tahsil Pendraroad, and district Bilaspur (C.G.) APPEAL UNDER SECTION 173 OF THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT. 1988. HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BJLASPUR •-s~"f- APPELLANT RESPONDENTS M.A.C No. 253 of 2009 Dr. Gopal Sharan Tanwar VERSUS Smt. Semwati Yadav & others (APPEAL UNDER SECTION 173 OF THE K40TOR VEHICLES ACT) (SB: Hon'ble Mr. N.K. Aaarwal. J.) Present : Shri Somnath Verma, Advocate for the appellant. Shri Yogendra Chaturvedi, Advocate for respondents. ORAL ORDER (Passed on 12.10.2011) 1. This is owner-cum-drh/er's appeal agalnst the award dated 6.12.2008 passed by the Addl. Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Pendra Road, Distt. Bilaspur (for short 'the Tribunal') in claim case No. 07/08. 2. As against compensation of Rs. 19,55,976/- claimed by unfortunate widow and children of deceased Vishwanath Yadav by filing applicatjon before the Tribunal under Section 166of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short 'the MV Act') for his death in the motor accident on 30.12.2007, the Tribunal assessed and awarded a total sum of Rs. 2,08,800/- along with interest @ 9 percent per annum from the date of application titl its actual payment. 3. The Tribunat, on a close scrutiny of the evidence ted by the parties, held : the accident had occurred due to rash and negligent driving by appeltant i.e. driver of Hero Honda ;?s:0., ...'A '^ ft 7. Motorcycie bearing registration No. CG-04-CR-8332; Vishwanath Yadav died on account of injuries sustained in the saU accident; assessed and awarded aforesaid sum as compensation in favour of claimants as against the present appellant. 4. Shri Somnath Verma, learned counsel appearing for the appellant, by referring para 10 of statement of Semwati (AW-1) i.e. widow of deceased Vishwanath, submitted : the Tribunal has wrongly assessed the agricultural income of deceased as Rs. 5000/- per annum in addition to his income earned from salary and thus has fallen in error in awarding compensation which is shockingly on higher side. 5. On the other hand, Shri Yogendra Chaturvedi, learned counsel appearing for respondents/claimants supported the award impugned and submitted : the fact that deceased was having two Acres of agricuttural land is not in dispute. As per statement of Semwati (AW-1) the deceased used to earn Rs. 20,000/- per annum from the agriculture; even otherwise, looking to the fact that since the accident had occurred in the year 2007, the yearly income of the deceased assessed by the Tribunal as Rs. 36,896/- cannot be said to be on higher side and the appeal being devoid of merlt is iiable to be dismissed. 6. I have heard the counsel appearing for the parties and perused the award impugned including records of the Tribunal. 7. As per claim petition, the deceased used to earn Rs. 2658/- per ' month from salary, Rs. 20,000/- per annum from the agriculture and Rs. 15,000/- per month by working as Carpenter. Semwati ^-f. (AW-1) in her statement para 2 has stated that her husband used to eam Rs. 20,000/- per annum from the agriculture as the land was irrigated land. Although in para 10 she has repeated the statement that her husband used to get 5-1O bags of pacMy in Adhiya from hwo Acres of land owned by him, but she has atso stated that her husband was not doing any work apart from service in PWD. This statement do not suggest deceased was not earning anything from agriculture. Therefore, the submission made by Shri Somnath Verma that deceased was not earning anything from agriculture is devoid of merit. 8. In view of above, in the opinlon of this court, the Tribunal has not erred in assessing income of the deceased from agriculture as Rs. 5000/- in addition to income from his salary as Rs. 2658/- per month and thereby in assessing the amount of compensation. The Tribuna! has deducted usual 1/3 of it towards his personal expenses and looking to the age of deceased as 56 years at the time of accident, has applied multiplier of 8. The Tribunal has further awarded a sum of Rs. 12,000/- on other heads. Looking to the overall circumstances of the case, 1 do not find and illegality in the award impugned warranting interference of this court. 9. For the reasons mentioned hereinabove, the appeal being devoid of substance is liable to be and is hereby dismissed. No order as tocosts. — —_ N.K.Agrawa! Judge Sahu