KRISHNA DEVI Vs. DES RAJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BHUPINDER Singh, the young son of the claimants Krishna Rani and Gurcharan Singh, the appellants here, was killed while driving his motor cycle when it met with an accident with a truck. This happened on November 7, 1974. The Tribunal came to the finding that the accident had been caused by the rash and negligent driving of the truck driver, but awarded no compensation to the claimants, holding that they were neither dependent upon the deceased nor had they suffered any monetary loss on account of his death. This is now what has been challenged in appeal. The respondents on the other hand, sought to escape liability by seeking to assail the finding recorded by the Tribunal on the issue of negligence.

(2.) THE accident here had taken place at a road junction in Model Town, Panipat. Both the truck and the motor cycle had come on to this road junction from a different roads. The road from which the deceased came was on the right hand side of that on which the truck was travelling. According to the claimants, the deceased was just going to turn at the road junction when the truck being driven in a rash and negligent manner came and struck against the motor cycle and thereby caused this accident.

(3.) IT is the common case of the parties that an accident did indeed take place between the truck and the motor-cycle at the road junction in question and that the motor-cycle had come on to it from the right side of the truck. The main point urged in challenge to the finding of the Tribunal on the issue of negligence was that the road from which the motorcyclist had come on to this road junction was a side road; whereas the truck was travelling on the main road and the deceased had thereby contravened the provisions of Regulation 7 of the 10th Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Act. The argument being that as the deceased was entering the main road, it was incumbent upon him to give way to traffic thereon. It was his failure to do so that resulted in his motor-cycle hitting into the truck.