KUSUM BHARDWAJ Vs. BALDEV SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AN accident between the car BHS-324 and the truck PJP-3165 coming from opposite directions, resulted in the death of the car-driver-Vikramjit Bhardwaj and three other occupants of the car, namely; S. Kishnan, Amarjit Kaur and Ajit Kaur. The only survivor being Sukhmeat Singh, who sustained serious injuries. This happened on March 11, 1983 at about 6-15 P.M. on the Grand-Trunk Road near Shahbad. Holding that it was the car-driver Vikramjit Bhardwaj who was wholly to blame for the accident the Tribunal declined compensation to his widow and children, but awarded Rs. 4,80,000/- as compensation to the widow and children of S. Kishnan ; Rs. 1,15,200 to the husband and children of Amarjit Kaur, and Rs. 30,000/- to Sukhmeet Singh, the husband of Ajit Kaur and in respect of his own injuries Sukhmeet Singh was awarded Rs. 20,000/- as claimed by him. With the car-driver being held to be at fault, he, the owner of the car, and the insurance company with which it stood insured, were held to be jointly and severally liable for the amounts awarded.

(2.) IN appeal now the challenge in the first instance was to the finding on the issue of negligence.

(3.) THE case of the claimants rests upon the testimony of P.W. 13 Sukhmeet Singh. His injuries in the accident mark him out to be a stamped witness to the occurrence. It was his testimony that the truck came at a very fast speed from the opposite direction and it suddenly came on to its wrong side and hit into the car. As against this, there is the testimony of the truck-driver, R.W. 1-Baldev Singh, who sought to put out a new story, namely, that the accident occurred when the car suddenly tried to over-take a bus going ahead and it thus came and hit into the truck coming from the other side. It is pertinent to note that no such plea had been raised in the written statement.