NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO LTD Vs. CHANDRAVATI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal has been filed by the insurance company under Clause 10 of the Letters Patent against the judgment of the learned single Judge dated 16. 4. 1987 passed in M. A. No. 323 of 1977 (Krishnachand Gupta v. Chandravati ).

(2.) THE respondent Nos. 1, 2 and 3, the heirs of the deceased Gaya Prasad, had filed claim under Section 110-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, for compensation in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- on the ground that Gaya Prasad, a passenger in the said bus of whom the respondent No. 1 was the widow and respondent Nos. 2 and 3 were the children, had received fatal injuries while going from Satna to Simariya as a result of an accident. It was alleged that a truck bearing registration No. MPJ 5422 was coming from the opposite direction but on account of the rashness and negligence of the driver of the bus in which the said Gaya Prasad was travelling, at the last moment, the driver swerved the vehicle resulting in the bus turning turtle. Gaya Prasad was thrown out and he died due to the injuries thus received. The said claim was made against the respondent Nos. 4 and 5 as the owner and driver of the bus respectively and the present appellant as the insurance company which had covered the liability under the policy issued by it.

(3.) THE claim was contested by the appellant on various grounds including that the liability of the insurance company under the policy and the statute, both, was limited to a maximum of Rs. 2,000/- per passenger.