SAVINDER KAUR Vs. HARCHARAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present appellants filed an application Under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 claiming compensation to the tune of Rupees six lacs. On contest, that application was allowed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (for short, MACT), Amritsar, vide his judgment, dated January 5, 1995. An amount of Rs. 1,44,000.00 was awarded. It was ordered that the amount of award shall be paid within two months from the date of order, failing which the claimants shall be entitled to interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of application till realisation and the respondents were held liable to pay Rs. 500.00 as councel's fee. The Driver and Owner of the vehicle were held jointly and severally liable.

(2.) FEELING aggrieved, the Driver and Owner of the offending vehicle have filed FAO 1923 of 1996 which has been separately decided vide my judgment, dated March 5, 1997, while the claimants except Naranjan Kaur who has since died, have filed this F. A. O. , for enhancement of compensation.

(3.) RESPONDENTS 1 and 2 filed separate written statements. They pleaded that respondent No. 1 was not known by the name of Baljit Singh which appears in the First Information Report in respect of the alleged accident. He had nothing to do with Bus No. PAB 1897. Taking place of accident was denied. It was also denied that respondent No. 1 was driving Bus No. PAB 1897 rashly and negligently. The application against him was not maintainable. Respondent No. 2 adopted the pleas taken by respondent No. 1 and further pleaded that he is neither Owner nor Driver of the said bus. He has been wrongly knpleaded as a party to the petition and that the applicants are not entitled to any compensation against him and the application deserved to be dismissed.