(1.) AGGRIEVED by the award dated 24.8.1998 made in M.C.O.P. No. 1045 of 1998 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (Principal Sub- Court), Coimbatore, the insurance company has preferred this appeal.
(2.) FACTS leading to the civil miscellaneous appeals are as follows: On 26.6.1997 about 8 p.m., while the respondent No. 1-claimant was returning from Salem in a vehicle bearing registration No. TN 41-Y 3848, owned by the respondent No. 2 herein, near India Cements at Sankari, one unknown lorry came in a rash and negligent manner in the opposite direction and in order to avoid head-on collision with that lorry, the respondent No. 1 swerved the vehicle to the extreme left, the vehicle went out of control and dashed against the tree. In the accident, the respondent No. 1 sustained grievous injuries. He was taken to Sankari Government Hospital, Salem, where he was given first aid and later, he took treatment as inpatient in Kovai Medical Care Centre at Coimbatore from 28.6.1997 for several days. Hence, he claimed compensation of Rs. 10,00,000 together with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum.
(3.) ASSAILING the judgment of Tribunal, learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the Tribunal has failed to consider that the accident had occurred on account of negligence of the claimant himself, who was driving the jeep bearing registration No. TN 41-Y 3848, involved in the accident and, therefore, he cannot claim any compensation under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. He further submitted that in the F.I.R. given to the police, immediately after the accident, by a passenger of the vehicle, it was specifically mentioned that the claimant alone drove the vehicle rashly and negligently and that the vehicle went out of his control and dashed against a tree, resulting in injuries. He further submitted that the respondent No. 1 -claimant is therefore, not entitled to claim any compensation even against the owner of the jeep, under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.