LACHHMAN SINGH Vs. ANITA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE above mentioned three Regular Second Appeals i.e. bearing Nos. 683 of 2007 (Lachhman Singh and others v. Smt. Anita Devi and others), 699 of 2007 (Lachhman Singh and others v. Angrej Singh) and 700 of 2007 (Lachhman Singh and others v. Jaswant Singh), arise out of the impugned common judgment and decree dated February 28, 2005, passed by learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Kurukshetra, whereby the suit for damages filed by the respondents/plaintiffs (hereinafter referred to as 'the respondents'), on account of the death of Naib Singh and injuries caused to Angrej Singh and Jaswant Singh, were decreed. Thereafter, the three appeals filed by the appellants/defendants (hereinafter referred to as 'the appellants'), before the learned First Appellate Court, were dismissed.

(2.) WITHOUT going into any further details, suffice it to say that on March 03, 1994, at about 8.00 p.m., in the area of Police Station, Shahbad, District Kurukshetra, an altercation had taken place on account of opening of Nali (drain), in village Charoni, between the appellants on one hand and Naib Singh, since deceased, and injured Angrej Singh and Jaswant Singh on the other hand. At the time of occurrence, Lachman Singh appellant caused fire arm injuries on the person of Naib Singh (32 years), an employee of the Haryana Roadways. Ultimately, he (Naib Singh) expired on the same day. In the said occurrence, other appellants had also caused fire arm injuries on the skull of Jaswant Singh (25 years) and in the abdomen of Angrej Singh (28 years). Both the injured had to undergo operation in the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, at Chandigarh and later on, they also remained admitted in Civil Hospital, at Karnal. On account of the aforesaid occurrence, a criminal case under Sections 302 and 307/34 of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 27 of the Arms Act, was registered against the appellants in Police Station, Shahbad vide F.I.R. No. 51 dated March 03, 1994. In the said criminal case, conviction and sentence passed by the learned 'Court of Session', against the appellants was also upheld up to the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Prior to that, three suits for damages i.e. (1) Civil Suit No. 37 of 2001/1996 dated March 08, 2001/March 07, 1996, by Angrej Singh against Lachhman Singh and others, (2) Civil Suit No. 285 of 1998/1996 dated April 30, 1998/March 07, 1996, by Smt. Anita Devi, widow of said Naib Singh, three minor children and Smt. Ajmero, mother of Naib Singh, (since deceased), and (3) Civil Suit bearing No. 119 of 2002/1996 dated March 07, 1996/July 05, 2002 by Jaswant Singh against Lachhman Singh and others, were filed.

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the appellants has put-forth his two fold arguments (i) that the amount of compensation of Rs. 4,00,000/- awarded by the Courts below on account of death of said Naib Singh, is on the higher side. In support of his this argument, reliance was place on Managing Director, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd. v. K.I. Bindu and others, 2006(1) RCR(Civil) 85 : 2006 ACJ 423. The second point of argument raised by learned counsel for the appellant is that the suit was filed after the expiry of two years from the date of occurrence of the fatal incident, so, the same was time barred.