JUDGMENT :

V. GOPALA KRISHNA RAO, J.

1. The appellant is 3rd respondent/Insurance company and the respondents are claim petitioners and respondent Nos.1, 2, 4 and 5 in M.V.O.P.No. 624 of 2005 on the file of the Chairman, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-cum-Principal District Judge, West Godavari at Eluru. The appellant filed the instant appeal questioning the legal validity of the order of the Tribunal.

2. For the sake of convenience, both the parties in the appeal will be referred to as they are arrayed in the claim petition.

3. The claim petitioners filed the petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 read with Rule 455 of the A.P.M.V. Rules, 1994 claiming compensation of Rs.2,00,000/- for the death of their mother, namely, Bharothu Mangamma, in a motor vehicle accident that took place on 04.01.2005.

4. The brief averments in the petition filed by the petitioners are as follows:

On 04.01.2005 the deceased was proceeding from Vissannapet in an auto bearing registration No. AP 16TU 4733 and when the auto reached near Kudapa, Madhavaram village, a tractor-trailer bearing registration Nos. AP 16AK 6894 & AP 16AK 6895 being driven by its driver in a rash and negligent manner