JUDGMENT

ORDER :— The insurer is in appeal by special leave. The short point canvassed by it before us is as to whether the insurer would have statutory liability beyond a sum of Rs. 20,000/- as had been provided in S. 95(2)(b)(i) of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1939 at the time the claim arose in 1961. That provision confined the liability of the insurer to a sum of Rs. 20,000/- in respect of persons other than passengers carried for hire or reward. Admittedly, the deceased was a third party and had been knocked down by the bus when riding on cycle. In the face of the provision contained in S. 95(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, the liability of the insurer could not be in excess of the statutory limit. We are inclined to agree with the learned counsel for the appellant that the High Court was in error in fixing the liability of the insurer at a sum above Rs. 20,000/

2. Counsel for the owner-respondent contended that the liability of the insurer was co-extensive with that of the owner and it was open to the claimant to recover the entire compensation from the insurer and the insurer in its turn could claim recovery of the excess amount above the statutory limit from the insured. Reliance