UNION OF INDIA Vs. P. S. MAHAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are the two Civil first Miscellaneous appeals under Section 110 (d) of the Motor Vehicles Act and arise out of the judgment and the award of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal dated 7th of January, 1975 allowing the claim of P.S. Mahal, the petitioner appellant to the extent of Rs. 36,242.00.

(2.) BRIEFLY speaking the facts of the case as disclosed from the judgment of the Tribunal are: that Shri P.S. Mahal the appellant in case No. 40 (hereinafter referred to as 'the petitioner appellant') who was working as an Executive Engineer in the Central Public Works Department (C. P. W. D.) at Jammu had gone to Udhampur on 28th of August 1969 in Government Jeep No. JKN-2462 which was driven by Shri Mohd Akbar driver of the department. It was a left hand driven jeep. While returning from Udhampur to Jammu when the appellant was on Ramnagar-Jammu road only 5 miles away from the City of Jammu, a military truck driven by respondent No. 2 was coming at fast speed from the opposite direction. The driver of the said vehicle tried to overtake the military vehicle ahead of him and while doing so he came on the wrong side of the road. He without observing the traffic rules and without blowing horn dashed his vehicle against the jeep of the petitioner appellant. The collision caused a serious impact due to which the jeep was pushed back at a considerable distance as a result of which the petitioner appellant was thrown out of the jeep and he received serious injuries. The driver of the jeep was also thrown out. The petitioner appellant became unconscious and was removed to civil Hospital Jammu in a civil bus wherefrom he was flown to Chandigarh where he was admitted in the Postgraduate Institute on 29th of August, 1969. He remained there as an indoor patient till 11th of January, 1970. The petitioner appellant had received serious injuries on the skull, face right clavical ribs, right hip and left thigh. He had also sustained fractures of clavical right side in the chest, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh ribs, fracture in the skull. After he was discharged from the Postgraduate Institute he resumed his duty on 1st of May 1970. He thereafter instituted a suit for compensation to the tune of Rs. 2,50,000.00. against the Union of India in the High Court on account of the injuries sustained in the accident. The breakup is as under:

(3.) THE Tribunal raised the following issues in the case.