CHANDRIKA,W/O KARUNAKARAN Vs. ROBY VARGHESE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants were the petitioners 2 to 4 in OP (MV) No.1339 of 2002 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, North Paravur. The respondents were the respondents 1, 3 and 4 before the Tribunal. The claim petition was filed by the first petitioner before the Tribunal, the late husband of the first appellant and father of appellants 2 and 3, who died on 22.8.2006. The appellants were impleaded as additional petitioners 2 to 4 in the claim petition. The parties are, for the sake of convenience, referred to as per their status in the claim petition.

(2.) It was the case of the petitioners before the Tribunal that, on 17.9.2002, while the first petitioner was pedaling his bicycle from Chettibhagom to Cheranelloor on the Paravur - Ernakulam National Highway, he was hit by a light goods carriage bearing registration No.KL-7/K8206, driven by the first respondent in a rash and negligent manner. The second respondent was the owner of the vehicle and the third respondent was the insurer of the vehicle. The first petitioner was a fish merchant earning a monthly income of Rs.3,000/-. Due to the injuries sustained in the accident, the first petitioner suffered total permanent disability with Quadriplegia. He was paralyzed and needed assistance of a skilled nurse. He was treated at AIMS, Kochi, and thereafter, at the Kottayam Medical College, as an inpatient from 17.9.2002 to 29.9.2002. Accordingly, the first petitioner claimed an amount of Rs.6,00,000/- as compensation under various heads.

(3.) The second respondent, the owner of the vehicle, filed a written statement contending that he had sold the vehicle to one Mary Varghese, who was subsequently impleaded as the fourth respondent.