PREM SINGH Vs. KANTA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These twenty appeals are being disposed of by one common judgment since all these appeals arise out of one accident.

(2.) The undisputed facts of the case are that Bus No. HP-07-3000 is owned by Dr. Prem Singh. It is also not in dispute that this Bus was insured with the Oriental Insurance Company. Another undisputed fact is that this Bus met with an accident on 18th November, 2000, when it went off the road and fell into a Khud at a place called Kharar, near Renuka in District Sirmour. A number of persons sustained injuries and some persons unfortunately expired in the accident. As many as 20 claim petitions were filed by the claimants, who were either the injured themselves or the legal heirs of the deceased.

(3.) The main dispute, which has arisen in these cases, is - who was driving the Bus at the relevant time. According to the owner, it was Jagdish, who was his driver and Jagdish, admittedly, had a valid driving licence to drive a Bus and, therefore, the Insurance Company should have been held liable to pay the compensation. On the other hand, the stand of the Insurance Company is that it was not Jagdish but Madan Singh who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. Since on verification, the driving licence of Madan Singh was found fake, the Insurance Company could not have been held liable to pay the compensation.