UNION OF INDIA Vs. SHRI LABH CHAND SHARMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This first appeal by the Union of India and Himachal Pradesh Administration through its transport department is directed against an order made by Shri Chet Ram, Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal Mahasu, Sirmur, Bilas-pur and Kinnaur districts, whereby a sum of Rs. 6,000/- was awarded as compensation to the respondents.

(2.) Gusaon Ram, the husband of respondent No. 3 and the father of respondents Nos. 1 and 2, boarded the Himachal Pradesh Government Transport bus No. Him971 at Simla on 27-1-1961. The bus was bound for Bilaspur and the aforesaid Gusaon Ram was to travel upto Khunera. When the aforesaid bus reached near Shalaghat on the Simla-Mandi road at about 4.30 P.M. it met with an accident and the aforesaid Gusaon Ram sustained serious injuries in his chest and on his head and breathed his last while he was being taken to the hospital at Arki. The respondents submitted an application claiming a sum of Rs. 10,000/- as damages on account of the loss sustained by them as a result of the death of the aforesaid Gusaon Ram. The deceased was employed as a head-bearer by the Grand Hotel Simla and also carried on cultivation in his village and it was alleged that his monthly income was Rs. 150/-. At the date of the accident he was about 50 years old.

(3.) The application was resisted by the appellants on the grounds that the respondents were not the legal representatives of Gusaon Ram and that in any view of the case the amount of compensation claimed was excessive and could not exceed Rs. 2,000/-.