Gujarat High Court
United India Insurance Company Limited vs Chandrikaben Nanjibhai on 29 September, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/FA/1215/2025 ORDER DATED: 29/09/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 1215 of 2025
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UNITED INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED
Versus
CHANDRIKABEN NANJIBHAI & ORS.
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Appearance:
EVOLVE LEGAL(17686) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
NISHIT A BHALODI(9597) for the Defendant(s) No. 1,2,3
NOTICE SERVED for the Defendant(s) No. 5
NOTICE UNSERVED for the Defendant(s) No. 4
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MOOL CHAND TYAGI
Date : 29/09/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. The captioned appeal is filed against the impugned judgment and award dated 26.12.2024 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Auxiliary), at Dhrangadhra Dist. Surendranagar in MACP No.10/2021, whereby the learned Tribunal has partly allowed the claim petition of the claimants-respondent nos.1 to 3 herein and awarded a sum of Rs.18,62,000/- as a compensation along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of filing of petition till realization.
2. The succinct facts leading to file the present appeal are that on 14.12.2020, Rameshbhai Nanjibhai Kuriya was going as a pillion rider on the motorcycle bearing registration no.GJ-13-AJ-9319 on the correct side of the road and when he reached at a place of occurrence, in the meantime, a truck bearing registration no.GJ-01-JT-0816 came driven by the opponent no.1 at excessive speed, in rash and negligent manner and dashed with the motorcycle on which Rameshbhai Nanjibhai Kuriya Page 1 of 7 Uploaded by MR.HARSHIT SANCHETI (HCD0070) on Fri Oct 03 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Oct 06 22:00:18 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1215/2025 ORDER DATED: 29/09/2025 undefined was riding as a pillion rider. In the said vehicular accident, he sustained grievous injuries and he succumbed to the injuries. It is further stated that at the time of accident, the deceased was aged about 41 years old and he was doing the sculpture work at M/s. Krishna Shilp Art and getting a salary of Rs.17,000/- per month.
3. Having been served with the notice of the claim petition, the insurance company had filed the written statement at Exh.9, thereby denying the contents of the claim petition in toto and prayed for rejection of the same.
4. Having considered the pleadings of the parties, the learned Tribunal framed the following issues at Exh.14.
1. Whether it is proved that deceased sustained injuries and died on account of rash and negligent driving rashness and negligence on the part of the drivers of the vehicle involved in the accident?
2. What amount the claimants are entitled by way of compensation and from which of the opponents?
3. What order?
5. In order to prove the claim, the original claimants have led the following oral and documentary evidences:-
Sr. Description of Documents Exh. Mark
No.
Oral Evidence:
1. Affidavit of examination-in-chief of claimant 24
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NEUTRAL CITATION
C/FA/1215/2025 ORDER DATED: 29/09/2025
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no.3 - Nishantbhai Nanjibhai Kuriya
Documentary Evidence:
1. Copy of FIR 26
2. Copy of panchnama 27
3. Copy of the Inquest panchnama 28
4. Copy of P.M. Note 29
5. Chargesheet 30
6. Copy of the leaving certificate of deceased 31
7. Copy of driving licence of opponent no.1 32
8. Copy of R.C. Book of truck 33
9. Copy of insurance policy of truck 34
10. Copy of Aadhar card of claimant no.1 35
11. Copy of Aadhar card of claimant no.2 36
12. Copy of Aadhar card of claimant no.3 37
13. Copy of the R.C. Book of motorcycle 38
14. Copy of the driving licnese of claimant no.3 39
15. Salary certificate of deceased 43
6. Having considered the material on record, the learned Tribunal has awarded a sum of Rs.18,62,000/- as a compensation along with interest at the rate of 9% per annum.
7. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied, the insurance company of the offending truck has preferred the present appeal on the ground of quantum of compensation awarded to the claimants.
8. Heard learned counsel for the parties.
9. Ms. Tanaya Shah, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the insurance company, vehemently submitted that the claimants could not prove the income of the deceased on record. In absence of the proof of Page 3 of 7 Uploaded by MR.HARSHIT SANCHETI (HCD0070) on Fri Oct 03 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Oct 06 22:00:18 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1215/2025 ORDER DATED: 29/09/2025 undefined income, the income of the deceased could have been ascertained on the basis of minimum wages. She further submitted that the learned Tribunal has considered the income of deceased as Rs.17,000/- per month in absence of any evidence of income of the deceased. Learned counsel for the insurance company referring the testimony of the employer of the deceased, submitted that the employer of the deceased could not place on record any reliable document, which would show that the deceased was getting the salary of Rs.17,000/- per month from his employer at the time of accident. She further submitted that even the employer of the deceased could not produce the Income Tax Return and other relevant documents to prove that the deceased was working with him and getting Rs. 17,000/- per month. She further submitted that the claimants could not produce any cogent evidence to prove the income of the deceased, therefore, the learned Tribunal has committed an error in considering the income of deceased as Rs.17,000/- per month at the time of accident. She further submitted that in the absence of cogent evidence of income, the learned Tribunal ought to have considered the income of the deceased on the basis of minimum wages as determined by the State Government at the relevant point of time. She further submitted that at the relevant point of time when the accident took place, the minimum wages for the semi-skilled workers was determined by the State Government as Rs.8,600/-. Therefore, the learned Tribunal ought to have ascertained the income of the deceased at Rs.8,600/-, however, the learned Tribunal considered the income of the deceased as Rs.17,000/- per month without any reliable evidence. In support of her contention, learned counsel for the insurance company has placed the reliance on the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court rendered in the case of Govind Yadav Vs. New India Insurance Company Limited, reported in (2011) 10 SCC 683 and Manusha Page 4 of 7 Uploaded by MR.HARSHIT SANCHETI (HCD0070) on Fri Oct 03 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Oct 06 22:00:18 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1215/2025 ORDER DATED: 29/09/2025 undefined Sreekumar and Others Vs. United India Insurance Company Limited, reported in (2022) 17 SCC 321. Relying upon the ratio of the aforesaid judgments, learned counsel for the insurance company submitted that the income ascertained by the learned Tribunal is not sustainable hence, the award is required to be modified accordingly.
10. On the other hand, Mr. Nishit A. Bhalodi, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the original claimants, submitted that at the time of accident, the deceased was working as a sculptor with M/s. Krishna Shilp Art and he was getting a sum of Rs.17,000/- per month as a salary. He further submitted that the claimants have pleaded the income of the deceased as Rs.17,000/- in the claim petition. He further submitted that the said fact was also proved by the claimant no.3 in his deposition before the learned Tribunal. He further submitted that not only this, the claimants have also examined the employer i.e. the proprietor of M/s. Krishna Shilp Art before the learned Tribunal and in his deposition, he proved that the deceased was working with M/s. Krishna Shilp Art and was getting Rs.17,000/- per month. He further submitted that not only this, the certificate was also produced by the employer at Ex.43. Therefore, the learned Tribunal has not committed any error in ascertaining the income of the deceased at Rs.17,000/- at the time of accident. He further submitted that there is no substance in the appeal. Therefore, the same is liable to be dismissed.
11. I have considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. From the contentions of the learned counsels for the parties, it is evident that there is no dispute regarding the occurrence and manner of occurrence of accident in question, involvement of the vehicle, age of the deceased and insurance of the Page 5 of 7 Uploaded by MR.HARSHIT SANCHETI (HCD0070) on Fri Oct 03 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Oct 06 22:00:18 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1215/2025 ORDER DATED: 29/09/2025 undefined offending vehicle in question. The learned counsel for the appellant- insurance company only challenged the income of the deceased. The perusal of the record shows that the claimants have pleaded in the claim petition that the income of the deceased was Rs.17,000/- per month at the time of accident. It had also been pleaded that the deceased was working as a sculptor with M/s. Krishna Shilp Art at Dhrangadhra, Dist. Surendranagar. In order to substantiate the plea, the claimant-Nishantbhai Nanjibhai Kuriya filed his affidavit in examination- in-chief at Exh.24. In the said affidavit, in para 2, he deposed that the deceased was working with M/s. Krishna Shilp Art as a sculptor and was getting Rs.17,000/- per month. He was cross-examined by the learned counsel for the insurance company but he ramained stick his version and denied the suggestion that the deceased was not working with M/s. Krishna Shilp Art. Further, he also denied the suggestion regarding the age and income of the deceased. The claimants have also examined Nitinbhai Ranchhodbhai Kuriya, who was the labour contractor in the temple. In his examination in chief, he deposed that he is working under the name and style of M/s. Krishna Shilp Art and he also deposed that the deceased was the skilled worker and he was getting Rs.17,000/- per month. He also produced the salary certificate at Exh.43. The said certificate would show that the deceased was getting Rs.17,000/- per month. Thus, from the pleadings, oral as well as documentary evidences, it is evident that the claimants have successfully proved that the deceased was a skilled sculptor and he was working with M/s. Krishna Shilp Art, Dhrangadhra Dist. Surendra nagar and he was getting a sum of Rs.17,000/- per month as a salary. It is settled proposition of law that the claimant has to prove the case on the preponderance of probability. The strict rules of evidence are not applicable to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. Therefore, the learned Page 6 of 7 Uploaded by MR.HARSHIT SANCHETI (HCD0070) on Fri Oct 03 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Oct 06 22:00:18 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1215/2025 ORDER DATED: 29/09/2025 undefined Tribunal has not committed any error in considering the income of the deceased as Rs.17,000/- per month at the time of accident.
12. So far as the ratio of the judgments relied upon by the learned counsel for the insurance company rendered by Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Govind Yadav (supra) and Manusha Sreekumar and Others (supra), is not applicable in the facts and circumstances of the present case. In both the judgments, the Hon'ble Apex court held that the learned Tribunal can consider minimum wage as notional income of the deceased/disabled, where the income is not proved on record. But in the case on hand, as discussed above, the claimants have successfully proved the income of the deceased on the touchstone of the preponderance of probability.
13. In view of the above discussion, the present appeal is devoid of merits and hence, stands dismissed. The impugned judgment and award dated 26.12.2024 is upheld. No order as to costs.
14. The amount, if any, lying deposited in the captioned appeal, in the Registry, be transmitted to the concerned learned Tribunal. The learned Tribunal shall disburse the entire amount of the compensation with interest lying deposited with the learned Tribunal to the original claimants.
(MOOL CHAND TYAGI, J) HARSHIT Page 7 of 7 Uploaded by MR.HARSHIT SANCHETI (HCD0070) on Fri Oct 03 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Oct 06 22:00:18 IST 2025