DELHI STATE LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY Vs. DURGAWANTI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Judgment shall decide the present Civil Miscellaneous (Main) Petition filed by the petitioner/DSLSA1, invoking Article 227 of the Constitution of India, 1950, thereby assailing the impugned judgment/award dtd. 25/1/2021, passed by the learned Additional District Judge-01/Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (North West), Rohini Courts, Delhi ['learned Tribunal'], in MACT Case No. 217/19/17, titled Durgawanti and Ors. vs. Sh. Bhupinder Singh, whereby, in an apparently hit and run motor accident resulting in death, the claimants, being the widow, two daughters and one son of the deceased, were awarded compensation, 90% of which is fastened upon the DSLSA.

(2.) Shorn of unnecessary details, the respondents, being the legal heirs of the deceased, filed a claim for compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, before the learned Tribunal in relation to a hit and run accident that occurred on 8/10/2016 at approximately 5:30 a.m. The accident involved the rash driving of a motorcycle bearing registration number DL-8SBE-2863, which struck the victim, Ram Dhani, inflicting fatal injuries, to which he succumbed the following day.

(3.) The incident led to registration of FIR No 959/16 under Ss. 279/304-A IPC 'Indian Penal Code, 1860' at Police Station Mangolpuri, Delhi. In the claim petition filed by the legal heirs of the deceased, respondent No.5, Shri Bhupinder Singh, claimed that the motorcycle had been stolen from his residence on the intervening night of 3rd-4/10/2016 and that an FIR 'First Information Report' regarding the theft was lodged on 8/10/2016. He contended that he was unaware of the accident, as the vehicle was not in his possession at the time.