SAROJ DEVI Vs. PAWAN KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellants in this appeal seek to assail the judgment and award of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Shahdara, Delhi dated 02.02.1999 whereby a sum of ' 1,93,840/- was awarded to the appellants with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of filing, that is, 19.09.1990 to 16.07.1995 and from 23.09.1997 till realization.

(2.) THE concise facts leading to the filing of the appeal are that on 7.4.1990, Constable Balraj Singh (hereinafter referred to as "the deceased") met with an untimely end while driving his motor cycle on G.T. Road, near the Apsara Border, when he was hit by a bus being driven rashly and negligently by the respondent No.1. He, having succumbed to the injuries sustained by him, the appellants who are his legal representatives, filed a Claim Petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 claiming compensation in the sum of ' 10,00,000/-. THE said Claim Petition was not contested by the respondents No.1 and 2, the driver and owner of the offending bus, who absented themselves from the proceedings and were accordingly proceeded ex parte. THE respondent No.3-M/s. New India Insurance Co. Ltd., however, filed a written statement denying each and every averment made in the Claim Petition, but admitting the factum of insurance of the offending vehicle in the name of the respondent No.2 on the date of the accident. THE proceedings eventually culminated in the passing of the aforesaid impugned award. Aggrieved by the quantum of compensation awarded to them, the appellants, who were the claimants before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, have preferred the present appeal on the ground that a very niggardly amount of compensation has been awarded to them.

(3.) MR. Pankaj Seth, the learned counsel for the Insurance Company, sought to counter the aforesaid contentions of the learned counsel for the appellants and to support the award of the learned Tribunal on all counts.