JUDGMENT

BASAVARAJA, J. - The appellants have preferred this appeal against the judgment and award dtd. 11/9/2020 passed in M.V.C.No.290/2017by the learned Principal Senior Civil Judge & 1st Addl. MACT., Karwar (hereinafter referred to as the 'Tribunal').

2. For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to as per the rank before the Tribunal.

3. The factual scenario of the case is as follows: On January 31, 2017, the deceased, Bireshwar Hiren Mandal, who was the husband of petitioner No.1 and the father of petitioner No.2, was a passenger aboard NWKRTC bus with registration number KA-31/F-1429, traveling from Majali to Karwar and about 7:00 p.m., the bus reached the vicinity of the Deputy Commissioner's office in Karwar, the deceased was in the process of disembarking from the bus. At this critical moment, the driver of the bus respondent No.2, abruptly initiated the movement of the bus. The sudden motion of the bus led the deceased, who was on the last step, to lose his balance and consequently fall onto the step and then onto the road. This unfortunate incident resulted in severe injuries to his head and body. Immediately, the injured was shifted to Karwar's Civil Hospital