The term ‘legal representatives’ under Section 110-A of the Motor Vehicles Act should be interpreted broadly and is not limited to the categories specified in Section 1-A of the Fatal Accidents Act.

JUDGMENT :

1. The question arises in this appeal as to the meaning of the words ‘legal representatives’ in Section 110-A of the Motor Vehicles Act.

2. The appeal is preferred by the legal representatives of the deceased under the Motor Vehicles Act claiming compensation. The accident occurred on 16-2-1981 when the deceased was crushed under the wheels of the vehicle belonging to the Setwin. The claim is by the parents, brother and sister of the deceased in a sum of Rs. 50,000/-. The Court below dismi-ssed the petition on the ground that the negligence of the driver of the vehicle was not established. Alternatively, it gave a finding that if the petition were to be allowed, the claimants would be entitled to Rs. 23,000/-.

3. In this appeal preferred by the legal representatives of the deceased, it is contended by Sri S. Hanumaiah that the finding of the lower Court on the question of negligence is erroneous. It is further argued that the Setwin is liable for the damages. It is further argued that having regard to the fact that the deceased was governed by Muhammadan law, the parents, brother and sister of the deceased are also entitled to claim the ‘dependency’.

“The points that arise in the case are:

(1) Whether the driver of the vehicles was negligent and the deceased was not negligent?

(2) Whether the Setwin is liable?

(3) What is the meaning of the words ‘legal represntatives’ in Sec. 110-A of the Motor Vehicles Act?

4. Point No. 1:— It is pointed out that the deceased was getting in to the bus at the Koti junction in Hyderabad city at 8.20 am. and that the driver of the vehicle informed the deceased that he should get into the bus from the door on the back side. The case of the appellants is that after the deceased proceeded to get into the door of the vehicle on the back side, the driver suddenly increased the speed and that therefore, negligence could not be attributed to the deceased.

5. We have the evidence of P. Ws. 2 and 3 who were passengers in the bus and who were also examined by the police The presence of these two persons in the bus cannot be disputed. P.W. 2 is an employe; working in the Andhra Pradesh State Construction Corporation, while P.W. 3 is a journalist who was also travelling in the same Vehicle. Their evedence is that when the deceased tried to get into the bus from the front door, the driver of the vehicle requested him to get down and get into the vehicle from the door on the back side. They further deposed that immediately after the deceased get down from the front side, the driver suddenly increased the speed, and that the deceased was crushed under the rear wheels of the vehicle. In my view, the tribunal was wrong in attributing negligence to the deceased. I do not find any grounds to disbelieve the evedence of P.W. 2 and 3, who are respectable persons and who were examined by the police also and their presence in the vehicle cannot be disputed. The deceased might have been wrong in trying to get into the bus from the front side, but once the driver asked him to get down and requested him to get in from the back side, therefore the driver of the vehicle acted rashly and negligently in suddenly increasing the speed that resulted in the crushing the deceased under the wheels of the vehicle. Once the passenger got down from the front door of the vehicle and stepped on the road, it was the obligation of the driver of the vehicle to see that the vehicle is not driven at such speed as to crush any person on the road. The driver was fully conscious of the fact that the deceased would follow up his request or advice and would try to git through the back-door and that the deceased would therefore, be very much nearer to the vehicle. If the deceased was a normal pedestrain on the road, he would have tried to avoid the accident, but in this case he had no chance of avoiding the accident. It was at the request of the driver of the vehicle that the deceased got down from the front side and proceeded to get into