The main legal point established in the judgment is the application of the doctrine 'res ipsa loquitur' and the principles underlying it in cases of motor accidents.

( 1 ) THIS appeal by the claimants, arises out of the judgment and award dated 30-3-1978 of the Motor Accidents claims Tribunal and II Addl. District judge, Dharwar (hereinafter referred to as the 'claims Tribunal') in M. C. (MVC) 55j1974 dismissing their claim for compensation of Rs. 2 - lakhs on account of the death of one Sudhir vasant Shivaj. kar (hereinafter referred to as 'sudhir') due to the motor accident that took place on 19-5-1974 a;t about 11-30 a. m. on the Dharwar-Belgaum road near a village called Kotur.

( 2 ) FOR the sake of convenience, we shall refer to the parties as 'petitioners' and 'respondents' as they were, referred to by the Claims Tribunal.

( 3 ) THE 1st petitioner is the wife, the second petitioner is the son, the third petitioner is the mother and the fourth petitioner is the father of Sudhir, the deceased in the case. They claimed a compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs for the death of Sudhir. According- to the petitioners, Sudhir was travelling in his car bearing registration No. MEL 1267 from Dharwar to Belgaum on the date of the accident. One Abhaya patravali (for short 'patravali') a friend of Sudhir was also in the car. Both of them left Dharwar at about 10-45 a. m. They were proceeding to belgium at a quite normal speed keeping the car on the left side of the road. At about 11-30 a. m. when they reached near Kotur village, a truck bearing registration number MYW. 7209 belonging to the 1st respondent subhadra Bai and driven by one fajalu Hasansab Munwalli (for short 'fajalu') came from the opposite direction loaded with sanitary pipes with enormous speed driven in a rash and negligent manner and dashed against the car driven by Sudhir, on the wrong side of the road from the direction in which the truck was coming, causing heavy damage to the car and also serious injuries to Sudhir. After dashing against the car, the truck went forward, dashed against a tamarind tree and then came to a halt. Fajalu, the driver of the truck died instantaneously. Sudhir. who was seriously injured, was taken to the Civil Hospital at Dharwar by Patravali and then to the K. M. C. Hospital at Hubli on the advice of the doctors of the Civil Hospital, Dharwar, where he succumbed to the injuries at about 10 a. m. on the following day i. e. , 20-5-1974. According to the petitioners, 'the accident was entirely due to the rash and negligent driving of the truck by its driver Fajalu. It is their further case that deceased Sudhir was quite a your able-bodied and brilliant person doing engineering business. He was a partner of M/s. Sudhir Constructions, belgaum and his annual income ranged from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000. He was the chief earning member in his family. Thus they claimed a total sum of Rs. 2 lakhs as compensation.

( 4 ) THE 1st respondent-owner resisted 'the claim inter alia contending that the accident was not due to rash and negligent driving of the truck by its driver, that the truck which was loaded, was proceeding towards dharwar in the normal speed along the left side of the road, that when the truck came near the motor car, the tyre of the front off side wheel of the truck suddenly burst and, consequently the driver of the truck could not control the vehicle, that the driver could not foresee this difficulty or the trouble, that no rashness or negligence can be attributed to the driver of the truck, since the accident was entirely due to the sudden bursting of the tyre. The 2nd respondent-Insurer, filed objections reiterating the objections taken, by the 1st respondent and in addition contended tha,t in any case, the 2nd respondent is not liable for the claim, in la,w and under the policy, since the driver of the truck was not holding a valid licence to drive the vehicle and at any rate, the liability of the 2nd respondent under the policy is limited to a sum of Rs. 50,000.

( 5 ) THE Claims Tribunal raised the following issues for decision:1. Whether Sudhir Vasant Shivalkar died as a result of the