JUDGMENT :

C.M. POONACHA, J.

Both the appeals are filed calling in question the judgment and award dated 18.3.2016 passed in MVC No.30/2011 by the Senior Civil Judge and JMFC, Gowribidanur, [Hereinafter referred to as ‘Trial Court’]

2. For the sake of convenience, the parties herein are referred as per their rank before the Trial Court.

3. The relevant facts in a nutshell leading to the present appeals are that, claiming compensation for a road traffic accident which occurred on 17.7.2008, the claimant filed a claim petition arraying the driver and owner of the offending bus as respondent Nos.1 and 2 respectively. The respondents entered appearance and contested the claim proceedings. The Tribunal, vide judgment and award dated 18.3.2016, partly allowed the claim petition and awarded a total compensation of Rs.1,39,340/- together with interest at 6% p.a. Being aggrieved MFA No.7616/2016 is filed by the owner of the bus and MFA No.4247/2017 is filed by the claimant.

4. Heard the submissions of learned counsel Sri D.Vijaykumar for the owner of the bus and learned counsel Sri Nagaraj Reddy, learned counsel for the claimant.

5. It is the vehement contention of the learned counsel for the ow