CHANDRAKALA Vs. KANWAR SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON 10. 9. 1989, while returning with three friends on his Motorcycle, Kesar Dev met with an accident with a Bus driven by respondent No. 1. Consequently, Kesar Dev alongwith two other riders expired on the spot. The fourth person, namely Vijay Kumar sustained grievous injuries. Kesar Dev's parents and brother and sisters filed a claim petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jhunjhunu, wherein they sought a compensation for Rs. 21,23,000/ -. Since the Bus was owned by the Delhi Transportation Corporation, therefore the Bus driver and the Corporation were arrayed as respondents in the said claim petition.

(2.) IN its written statement, the Corporation contended that the deceased was riding the Motorcycle alongwith three other persons. According to them, the accident occurred because suddenly a goat kid ran across the road, which the deceased tried to avoid. While trying to avoid the kid, the deceased dashed against the coming Bus. Therefore, according to them it was clearly a case of contributory negligence. They further contended that the income of the deceased as claimed by the claimants is on the higher side. They further claimed that the compensation asked for is imaginary and baseless.

(3.) ON the other hand, Mr. Hawa Singh, the learned counsel for the respondents, has argued that no documentary evidence was produced by the claimants to prove the fact that the deceased was earning Rs. 3500/- per month. Hence, the Tribunal was justified in calculating the income to be Rs. 800/- per month. According to him, the learned Tribunal has applied the correct multiplier. Thus, he has supported the impugned award.