GYAN Vs. ANGOORI DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY way of the present appeal the appellants seek to challenge the impugned Award dated 4. 4. 2003 whereby the appellants being the owner and driver of the offending vehicle was held liable to pay the compensation amount to the tune of Rs. 1,60,000/- with interest @ 6% per annum. Brief facts to deal with the contentions of the parties are:-On 18. 8. 1998 at about 11. 00 a. m. Shri Shiv Dutt boarded the bus bearing registration No. DEP-7325, from main Azadpur bus stop, proceeding towards Interstate Bus Terminal near Kashmere Gate, Delhi and when the said bus reached near Outer Gate, New Subzi Mandi, Azadpur, Delhi a truck bearing registration No. PNJ-9855, was standing there. According to the claimants the above said bus overtook the said stationery truck from the wrong side and as a result, rear side of the bus collided with the truck and due to said collision, shri Shiv Dutt who was standing on the rear side of the said bus fell down and sustained fatal injuries due to which he died.

(2.) MR. R. K. Singh, Advocate appearing for the appellants mainly contended that the Tribunal fell in grave error in fastening the liability to pay the compensation amount upon the owner and driver of the offending vehicle although, it was clearly proved on record that the deceased was hit by the offending vehicle when he was standing at the bus stop to board the bus. The contention of the counsel for the appellants is that the Tribunal has returned a wrong finding by holding that the deceased was a passenger in the bus and met with an accident at the time of alighting from the bus and consequently holding the insurance company liable to pay the amount of Rs. 15,000/-, being limited liability under the insurance policy treating the deceased as a bus passenger while fastening the remaining liability upon the owner and driver of the offending vehicle. Counsel for the petitioner strongly placed reliance on the depositions of two eye witnesses i. e. PW-2 and PW-3, who in their unrebutted testimony had deposed that the deceased was standing on the main Azadpur bus stop to board the bus when the offending bus bearing registration No. DEP-7329 being driven rashly and negligently and at a very high speed by the driver of the offending vehicle had hit the victim Shri Shiv Dutt, as a result of which he received serious injuries and ultimately died in the hospital. Counsel for the appellants further stated that even the driver of the offending vehicle in his written statement has clearly taken the stand that the deceased was not a passenger in the said bus bearing registration No. DEP-7329. Counsel for the appellants also submitted that even in the evidence adduced by the appellants it was clearly stated that the deceased was not a bus passenger in the said offending bus. To strengthen his arguments further, counsel for the appellants contended that the testimonies of all these witnesses remained unrebutted as no contrary suggestion to these witnesses was given by the insurance company suggesting presence of the deceased as a passenger in the said bus and therefore, the counsel submitted that the liability of the insurance company has been wrongly held to be limited, which in fact should be unlimited as deceased was a third party and could not have been treated as a bus passenger.

(3.) MR. D. K. Sharma counsel appearing for the respondent on the other hand contended that no infirmity can be found in the findings given by the Tribunal.