DELHI TRANSPORT CORPORATION Vs. SHAKEELA PARVEEN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole question raised for determination in the instant Appeal is whether deceased Zamil suffered death in an accident arising out of use of motor vehicle, that is, DTC bus No. DL-1P-9753 The facts of the case are not very much in dispute. Joginder Singh, the driver of the DTC bus was driving the bus from ISBT to Anand Vihar. Some passengers boarded the bus from Shastri Park, Seelampur and Bihari Colony. At about 7:00 A.M., the bus reached near Jagat Puri when the driver heard an alarm that money has been removed from the pocket. The driver also noticed that somebody had placed a knife at his neck. Thereafter, the person (who had held the knife on the driver's neck) commanded the driver to stop the bus. He heard people saying in the rear of the bus that a person had been stabbed. At Karkari Mor (turning), four boys who were armed with knife alighted from the bus. The driver took the bus to Patparganj Bus Depot. A call was made to the police. The police reached the bus depot where driver Joginder Singh made a statement to the IO on the basis of which FIR No. 24 was recorded in Police Station Krishna Nagar.

(2.) Deceased Zamil was removed to SDN hospital where he was declared brought dead. A Claim Petition was filed by the Respondents No. 1 to 4 against the Appellant DTC claiming compensation of Rs. 7,50,000/-. During inquiry before the Claims Tribunal the Respondents (the Claimants) tried to set up a case that since the bus was taken to Patparganj Depot instead of nearest hospital deceased Zamil died on account of profuse bleeding from the injuries inflicted by the robbers. The fact that the deceased was not taken to the hospital even after the alleged robbers alighted from the bus is not disputed. In fact, it is an admitted case of the parties and formed part of the FIR lodged by Joginder Singh, the driver of the DTC bus.

(3.) On appreciation of evidence, the Claims Tribunal while relying on Rita Devi & Ors. v. New India Assurance Company Limited & Anr., 2000 5 SCC 113 held that this accident had arisen out of use of a motor vehicle. Since it was a Petition under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (the Act), the Claims Tribunal accepted the deceased's income as Rs. 40,000/-, deducted one-third towards personal and living expenses and applied the multiplier of 18 as given in the second Schedule to compute the loss of dependency. The Claims Tribunal awarded overall compensation of Rs. 5,10,000/-.