LILAWATI ALIAS PUSHPAWATI Vs. SHIV SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SHRI P. D. Khanna, Assistant Administrative Officer of the Life Insurance Corporation of India, posted at Chandigarh, was run over by Punjab Roadways bus No. PLR -244 near the bus stand when he was crossing the road between sectors 22 and 17, on September 9, 1969. His wife Mrs. Lilawati, his two sons Anil Kumar and Kamal Kumar, and his daughter Rita filed a claim application before the learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh, who after going into the matter awarded them compensation as under: Smt. Lilawati (widow) - Rs. 14,000.00 Kamal Kumar (son) - Rs. 10,000.00 Anil Kumar (son) - Rs. 5,000.00 Rita (daughter) - Rs. 5,000.00 Total: Rs. 34,000.00

(2.) IT is in evidence the deceased used to earn a sum of Rs 1030.37 per month inclusive of salary and allowances. It is in the statement of Mrs. Lilawati that the deceased used to give Rs. 800/ - per month to her for household expenses. The family of the deceased consisted of five persons. Two of them were adults and three of them were minor children. Since Rs. 800/ -per month were being paid to Mrs. Lilawati, that perhaps also included all the sundry expenses which were required for the up keep of the entire family. What I mean to say is that the entire amount was not being spent for the kitchen if the deceased had been giving only Rs. 800/ -per month to his wife. He was perhaps spending bulk of the remaining amount on himself. In this situation, I assess the damages sustained by the family of the deceased at the round figure of Rs. 700/ -per month.

(3.) MR . Sarhadi, the learned Advocate -General, Punjab, has submitted that the deceased while crossing the road should also be held to have contributed to the negligence. It is not disputed that the accident took place a little beyond the square where four roads meet. Almost on all the crossings in Chandigarh, a spot is indicated near the squares from which place the pedestrians can cross the road. Every owner of the vehicle is expected to slew down his vehicle when he reaches such a place. The evidence of Manohar Lal A.W. 2 and Dr. Dina Nath A.W. 3 indicates that there were skid marks of the bus up to a distance of about 21 paces. This shows that even while the bus driver was taking a turn round the square he did not take the precaution of slowing down the speed of the bus. In this situation, I am unable to hold that the deceased also was negligent. The argument raised by Mr. Sarhadi is, therefore, turned down. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly.