The owners of two buses are equally liable to pay damages to the dependants of a deceased passenger if the accident was caused by the negligence of the drivers of both buses.

JUDGMENT :

Mudholkar, J.

1. This is an appeal under a certificate of fitness granted by the High Court of Gujarat and arises out of a suit for damages instituted by the legal representatives of one Gokaldas. The said Gokaldas was a passenger in a stage carriage bus belonging to the appellant. We will hereafter refer to this bus as the green bus. The bus was on its way from Jamnagar to Bhanvad. A stage carriage passenger bus belonging to the second respondent, the Nawanagar Transport Industries Ltd., Jamnagar, was on its way to Jamnagar from the direction of Bhanvad. We shall call this bus the red bus. Near a village named Dhangad which is between Jamnagar and Bhanvad the sides of the two buses grazed each other.

2. According to the appellant, however, it was the bonnet of the red bus which dashed against the right side of the green bus. It is common ground that Gokaldas was occupying a seat in the green bus on the same side which came in contact with the bonnet of the red bus and received injuries on the right arm and severe injuries on the head which resulted in almost instantaneous death. Respondents 1(i) to 1(vi) who are the widow and children of Gokaldas instituted a suit in the Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division. Jamnagar, against the appellant as well as respondent No 2 and the drivers of the two buses claiming Rs. 60,000 as damages. The claim was denied by the appellant as well as by the second respondent and the drivers of the two buses. The ground on which the claim was based was that the drivers of both the buses were negligent inasmuch as they were driving the buses at excessive speeds with the result that there was collision between the two buses due to which the deceased sustained fatal injuries. They also contended that had the drivers observed ordinary precaution they would have left some space between their respective vehicles while passing each other, but as they did not do so the collision between the two vehicles became inevitable. They assessed the damages at Rs. 60,000/- upon the basis that Gokaldas earned on an average an income of Rs. 500 to Rs. 600 p.m., that his age at the time of the accident was 47 years, that he would thus have continued to earn this income and maintain his dependants for at least 10 more years and would thus have earned at least Rs. 60,000 during this period. The claim was denied by the appellant as well as the second respondent. According to the appellant both the buses were proceeding at moderate speeds and that at any rate the appellant's driver was not driving his bus in a rash and negligent manner. According to both the appellant and respondent No. 2 Gokaldas was guilty of contributory negligence apparently because he had put out his head and arm and it is because of this that he sustained injuries which resulted in his death. Both the appellant and respondent No. 2 denied that the income of Gokaldas was as alleged by the dependants of Gokaldas. The suit was dismissed by the Civil Judge, Senior Division, Jamnagar, upon the ground that the deceased was guilty of contributory negligence. On appeal, the High Court held that the accident was due to the negligence of the appellant and that the deceased was not guilty of contributory negligence. The High Court assessed the damages at Rs. 25,000/- and awarded a decree to the dependants of Gokaldas against the appellant and the driver of the appellant's bus. The view taken by the High Court was that the driver of the bus of respondent No. 2 was not guilty of any rash and negligent act but it was only the driver of the appellant's bus, that is the green bus who drove his vehicle in a rash and negligent manner. The High Court negatived the plea in defence taken by the appellant that Gokaldas was guilty of contributory negligence. It may be mentioned here that after the decree was made by the High Court the dependants of Gokaldas, that is respondents 1(i) to I (vi), assigned their decretal rights in favour of Shah Damodar Amichand and S