JUDGMENT

Dipak Misra, CJI

The legal representatives of the deceased Firoz preferred a claim petition being MAC Petition No. 64 of 2006 before the Chairman, Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (for short, ‘the tribunal’), Washim under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for brevity, “the Act”) claiming compensation of Rs. 15 lacs on the foundation that the deceased was an Assistant Teacher in Urdu Primary School at Pusad run by Zilla Parishad, Yeotmal and was drawing monthly salary of Rs. 8,123/and they were dependent on the income of the deceased. The assertion in the claim petition was that land situated in survey number 136 of village Kajleshwar, Tq Karanja, Washim District was belonging to Respondent No. 1 who had commenced the work for digging of well in the above agricultural land. On 08.04.2005 at about 4.15 p.m., when the deceased was returning towards his house after purchasing certain articles from the grocery shop, a heavy stone came flying and fell on his head, as a consequence of which, he sustained grievous injuries and was carried for treatment in a jeep to the hospital where he was declared dead. The case of the claimants before the Tribunal was that the stone f