Smt. Kamalavva and Ors v. Sri Surendrapal Singh and Anr

  


  

 

  




    
 

 
   !"

 # 

$ % 
#  

$ %  %!

  ##  

  

&!' (   
 






 



















 




 



 





 
!













 "
 
 
 
"
#
$
%

& 

'




(

Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA ( , ( ( AND:( (

1., SRI,SURENDRAPAL,SINGH,, S/O,CHARANSINGH,, AGED,ABOUT,55,YEARS,, OCC:,BUSINESS,, R/O:,ARDHAPUR,,DIST:,NANDED, MAHARASHTRA,–,431,601., ,

2., THE,BRANCH,MANAGER,, UNITED,INDIA,INSURANCE,CO.,LTD,, S.S.,FRONT,ROAD,, VIJAYAPURA,–,586,101., , …RESPONDENTS, , (BY,SRI,MOHD.ABDUL,QUAYAM,,ADVOCATE,FOR,, ,,,,,,SRI.J.AUGUSTIN,,ADVOCATE,FOR,R2;,, ,,,,,,NOTICE,TO,R1,DISPENSED,WITH), , , THIS, MFA, IS, FILED, UNDER, SECTION, 173(1), OF, THE, MOTOR, VEHICLES, ACT,, PRAYING, TO, SET, ASIDE, THE, JUDGMENT, AND, AWARD, DATED, 02.07.2021, PASSED, BY, THE, HON'BLE, PRINCIPAL, SENIOR, CIVIL, JUDGE, AND, MACT-V,, VIJAYAPURA, IN, MVC, NO.1221/2011,, IN, THE, INTEREST, OF, JUSTICE,AND,EQUITY., , , THIS, MFA,, COMING, ON, FOR, ADMISSION,, THIS, DAY,, JUDGMENT,WAS,DELIVERED,THEREIN,AS,UNDER:, , CORAM:, HON'BLE,MR.,JUSTICE,H.T.NARENDRA,PRASAD, ,AND,, ,HON'BLE,MR.,JUSTICE,TYAGARAJA,N.,INAVALLY, ( ( ( , ( ( ORAL(JUDGMENT( (PER:,HON'BLE,MR.,JUSTICE,H.T.NARENDRA,PRASAD)( ,

¶1This,appeal,under,Section,173(1),of,Motor,Vehicles, Act,,1988,(hereinafter,referred,to,as,'the,Act'),has,been, filed, by, the, claimants, challenging, the, judgment, dated,

02.07.2021,passed,by,the,Principal,Senior,Civil,Judge,and, MACT-V,,Vijayapur,,in,MVC,No.1221/2011.,,

¶2Facts, giving, rise, to, the, filing, of, the, appeal, briefly, stated,are,that,on,25.02.2011,at,about,9:00,PM,,when,the, deceased, Mallikarjun, was, proceeding, on, a, motorcycle, bearing, Reg.No.KA-28/TRB-2882,, as, a, pillion, rider, on( motorcycle, along, with, his, friend, Basavaraj,, when, they, came,near,Mugalkhod,Math,on,Solapur,road,,Vijayapur,,at, that, time,, a, lorry, bearing, registration, No.MH-26/H-5835, came, from, back, side,, being, driven, by, its, driver, in, high, speed,and,in,rash,and,negligent,manner,,dashed,against, the,motorcycle,of,the,deceased,and,caused,the,accident.,, As,a,result,of,the,aforesaid,accident,,both,rider,and,pillion, ( , ( ( rider-Mallikarjun, sustained, grievous, injuries, and, succumbed,to,the,injuries.,,,

¶3The, claimants, filed, a, petition, under, Section, 166, of, the, Act, seeking, compensation, for, the, death, of, the, deceased,along,with,interest.,,,

¶4Upon, service, of, notice,, respondent, No.2, has, appeared, through, counsel, and, filed, written, statement, denying, the, averments, made, in, the, claim, petition., Respondent,No.1,,despite,service,of,notice,,did,not,appear, before,the,Tribunal,and,was,placed,ex-parte.,,,

¶5On, the, basis, of, the, pleadings, of, the, parties,, the, Claims,Tribunal,framed,the,issues,and,thereafter,,recorded, the, evidence., , The, Tribunal,, by, the, impugned, judgment, and,award,has,dismissed,the,claim,petition,with,costs.,,

¶6The,learned,counsel,for,the,claimants,has,raised,the, following,contentions:, a. Firstly,, the, claimants,contended,that, deceased, died, in,the,road,traffic,accident,involving,the,offending,vehicle, ( , ( ( and, they, have, also, mentioned, the, specific, registration, number,of,the,offending,vehicle,and,they,have,lodged,the, complaint,against,the,driver,of,the,offending,vehicle.,They, have, also, produced, the, documents, issued, by, the, RTO, Office,Nanded,to,show,that,the,said,vehicle,was,registered, with, the, RTO, office, Nanded., , In, spite, of, that,, the, appellants, have, not, traced, the, vehicle, and, filed, the, 'C', report.,Filing,of,'C',report,will,not,be,fatal,to,the,case,of, the, claimants., , If, the, claimants, have, established, that, injury, or, death, caused, due, to, the, involvement, of, the, offending,vehicle,,the,Tribunal,has,to,decide,the,same,on, the, evidence, of, the, parties, and, material, available, on, record, however,, the, Tribunal, dismissed, the,petition, only, on,the,basis,of,filing,of,'C',report.,( b. He, further, contended, that, on, an, earlier, occasion,, similar, judgment, has, been, passed, by, the, Tribunal, by, judgment, dated, 25.06.2014, and, the, same, has, been, set, aside,by,this,Court.,In,spite,of,that,,similar,order,has,been, passed,by,the,Tribunal.,( ( , ( (

¶7Learned, counsel, for, the, insurance, company, has, contended, that, the, registration, number, of, the, offending, vehicle, mentioned, by, the, claimants, was, not, traceable.,, The, police, have, filed, the, 'C', report, that, has, not, been, challenged, by, the, claimants, and, they, have, not, adduced, any,additional,evidence,as,per,the,directions,of,this,Court.,, Therefore,, the, Tribunal, has, rightly, dismissed, the, claim, petition.,

¶8Heard,the,learned,counsel,for,the,parties.,,Perused, the,judgment,and,award,of,the,Tribunal.,

¶9The,case,of,the,claimants,is,that,on,25.02.2011,,at, about, 9:00, PM,, when, deceased, Mallikarjun, Biradar, was, proceeding, on, a, motorcycle, bearing, Reg.No.KA-28/TRB-2882,,ridden,by,his,friend,Basavaraj,by,the,left,side,of,the, road,, when, they, came, near,Mugulkhod,Math, on,Solapur, Road,,Vijayapura,,at,that,time,,at,about,9:00,PM,,a,lorry, bearing,Reg.No.MH-26/H5835,came,from,the,backside,and, dashed,to,the,motorcycle.,,Due,to,impact,,Mallikarjun,fell, down,and,suffered,injuries,and,succumbed,to,the,injuries.,, ( , ( ( Immediately,after,the,accident,,PW.2-Basavaraj,lodged,a, complaint, against, the, driver, of, the, offending, vehicle, mentioning,the,registration,number,of,the,vehicle.,,PW.2, has,also,given,specific,evidence,stating,that,driver,of,the, lorry, bearing, Reg.No.MH-26/H-5835, is, negligent, in, causing,the, accident., He,has, also, furnished,the, relevant, records, from, the, RTO, office, at, Nanded,, stating, that, the, registration,number,of,the,vehicle,mentioned,in,the,FIR,is, registered,with,the,RTO,,Nanded.,The,Tribunal,only,on,the, basis, of, 'C', report, filed, by, the, police, has, dismissed, the, claim,petition.,,

¶10On, an, earlier, occasion, the, judgment, and, award, dated, 25.06.2014, passed, by, the, Tribunal, has, been, challenged, before, this, Court, in, MFA, No.201676/2014.,, This, Court, vide, judgment, dated, 06.10.2020, has, allowed, the,appeal,with,the,following,observation:, "7., As, rightly, pointed, out, by, the, learned, counsel, for, the, appellants,, the, case, projected, before, the, Tribunal,is,that,accident,resulting,in,the,death,of,the, deceased, had, taken, place, at, about, 9.00, p.m., on, ( , ( (

25.02.2011.,Perusal,of,the,trial,court,records,show, that, the, rider, of, the, motorcycle, who, is, examined, before, the, Tribunal, as, PW.2, has, lodged, the, complaint,as,per,Ex.P.1.,The,FIR,shows,that,it,was, received,in,the,police,station,at,about,11.45,p.m.,on, the,same,day.,In,the,complaint,so,lodged,by,PW.2,, he, has, given, vivid, description, of, the, manner, of, taking,place,of,the,accident,and,he,has,specifically, mentioned, therein, that, the, offending, lorry, bearing, registration, No.MH-26/H-5835, came, from, behind,, dashed, to, his, motorcycle, and, thereafter, briefly, halted, and, on, seeing, people, gathering, around, the, injured,person,had,sped,away,from,the,scene.,The, post-mortem,report,of,the,deceased,also,probabilises, the,fact,that,the,death,had,taken,place,on,account,of, injuries, suffered, in, a, motor, vehicle, accident., It, is, unfortunate,that,learned,Tribunal,instead,of,focusing, on,this,aspect,of,the,evidence,as,he,ought,to,have, instead,,placed,reliance,on,the,police,filing,"C",final, report.,Learned,Presiding,Officer,of,the,MACT,ought, to,have,noticed,that,"C",final,report,was,filed,only,on, account,of,the,fact,that,the,offending,vehicle,was,not, traced, and, therefore, technical, part, of, the, investigation, regarding, obtaining, MVI, report, could, not, be, completed, and, accordingly, the, police, had, taken,recourse,to,filing,"C",final,report.,The,evidence, of, PW.2, on, the, other, hand, has, not, been, seriously, challenged, during, the, cross-examination, except, ( , ( ( putting,some,casual,suggestions.,Apart,from,the,fact, that, PW.2, is, the, complainant, in, the, criminal, case, which, was, lodged, at, the, earliest, point, of, time, by, mentioning,the,registration,number,of,the,offending, vehicle,, as, rider, of, the, motorcycle, and, eyewitness, has, examined, himself, before, the, Tribunal., This, aspect, of, the, matter, has, not, received, serious, consideration,from,the,Tribunal,which,,we,are,of,the, opinion,that,cannot,be,countenanced.,Therefore,,we, are, not, inclined, to, agree, with, the, finding, of, the, learned,Tribunal,that,the,claim,petition,should,go,for, failure,of,the,dependents, of, the,deceased, to,prove, the, involvement, of, the, offending, vehicle, in, the, accident,and,on,the,other,hand,we,are,satisfied,that, order, of, the, learned, Tribunal, is, erroneous, and, therefore, it, is, liable, to, be, set, aside, and, matter, remanded,to,the,Tribunal,for,fresh,consideration,by, giving, opportunity, to, both, sides, to, lead, further, evidence,,if,any.,Hence,,the,following:,, ORDER, The,appeal,is,allowed.,The,impugned,judgment, and,award,dated,25.06.2014,in,MVC,No.1221/2011, is,set,aside.,Matter,is,remanded,to,the,learned,MACT, for,fresh,consideration,in,accordance,with,law.,, ( , ( ( , Learned, Tribunal, shall, complete, the, proceedings, within, three, months, from, the, date, of, receipt,of,certified,copy,of,this,judgment., In,view,of,the,above,order,,IA-1/19,does,not, survive,for,consideration,and,it,is,disposed,of.",, ,

¶11In, spite, of, this,, the, Tribunal, again, dismissed, the, claim,petition,solely,on,the,ground,that,the,police,had,filed, a,'C',final,report,and,were,not,in,a,position,to,trace,the, offending,vehicle,or,its,driver.,The,owner,of,the,offending, vehicle,did,not,appear.,Although,the,Tribunal,disputed,that, his,vehicle,was,involved,in,the,accident,,the,claimants,had, produced, the, registration, number, of, the, vehicle, as, mentioned,in,the,FIR. Even,the,filing,of,a,'C',report,is,not, fatal,to,the,filing,of,a,claim,petition,if,the,claimant,proves, that, the, offending, vehicle, was, involved, in, the accident.,, The, Tribunal, without, considering, all, these, aspects, has, once, again, dismissed, the, claim, petition., In, view, of, the, above,,the,appeal,deserves,to,be,allowed,by,setting,aside, ( , ( ( the, impugned, judgment, and, award., Hence,, we, pass, the, following:, , ORDER, i. The,appeal,is,allowed.,,The,impugned,judgment, and, award, dated, 02.07.2021, passed, by, the, Principal,Senior,Civil,Judge,and,Member,MACT-V,, Vijayapur,,in,MVC,No.1221/2011,is,set,aside., ii. The,matter,is,remitted,to,the,Tribunal,for,fresh, consideration, in, accordance, with, the, law,, after, giving,opportunity,to,both,the,parties,to,adduce, additional, evidence, or, produce, additional, documents,,if,any,,filed,by,the,parties., iii. The, parties, are, directed, to, appear, before, the, Tribunal, on, 17.12.2025,, without, any, further, notice.,, iv. The,Tribunal,is,directed,to,dispose,of,the,petition, within, a, period, of, six, months, from, the, date,of, appearance,of,the,parties., ( , ( ( v. Office, is, directed, to, return, the, records, to, the, concerned,Tribunal., , , Sd/-( (H.T.NARENDRA(PRASAD)( JUDGE( ( ( Sd/-( (TYAGARAJA(N.(INAVALLY)( JUDGE( , VNR, List,No.:,1,Sl,No.:,53, ,