ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. Vs. VASHISHTHA MAURAY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard learned counsel for appellant, learned counsel for respondent claimant and Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Srivastava, learned counsel for respondents 2 and 3. No-one has appeared on behalf of respondent no.4.

(2.) First Appeal from Order has been filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988(hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the judgment and award dated 31.05.2008 passed in Claim Petition No.138 of 2006 (Vasishtha Maurya v. Chairman, U.P.S.R.T.C. and others) whereby the claim petition of the injured claimant has been allowed awarding a compensation of Rs.2,72,800/- along with 8% interest per annum with the appellant insurance company liable to satisfy the award.

(3.) Learned counsel for appellant submits that the incident had occurred in the night of 19/20th January, 2005. In the Claim Petition, the claimant has averred that he was travelling as a passenger on the Roadways bus No. U.P. 42/T-2068. When the bus was standing due to a traffic jam near Ram Sanehi Ghat bridge, the claimant had deboarded the bus in order to relieve himself but had slipped and fallen on endeavouring to board the bus thereafter due to the fact that the bus had started moving again. Learned counsel for appellant has submitted that the present appeal is being pressed only with regard to the factum of contributory negligence on the part of the claimant and while other grounds have also been taken particularly with regard to challenge to the quantum of compensation, the same are not being pressed in the present appeal.