( 1 ) ON 25/03/1973 the claimant aged about 54 at the time of the accident and about 56 at the time of the trial boarded the bus in question from Ahmedabad in order to go to Matar. He was occupying behind the drivers cabin. At about 9-30 P. M. when the bus was running on the highway between Jebalpur and Bareja the truck in question approached from the opposite side. There was a collision between the two vehicles. The right side of the truck dashed against the rightside of the bus. The driver of the bus lost control as a result of the impact The bus left the road and it hit against a tree and then came to a sudden stop. The claimant received various injuries as a result of the accident two of which were a fracture of the right acetabulum (the cup shaped socket in the side of the pelvis into which the head of the femur bone of the thigh is fitted) and a fracture of the head of the right femur. (see Ex. 136 certificate issued by Dr. N. R. Patel Es. 135 ). The claimant underwent prolonged treatment and was thrice operated upon consequent to the accident. There is serious dispute between the parties on the question whether or not the prolonged treatment and surgical operations are attributable to the accident injury and we shall dwell on that aspect a little later.

( 2 ) WHILE the claimant was still undergoing treatment he instituted the claim application out of which the present appeal arises. The initial claim was for a compensation in the sum of Rs. 40 0 Subsequently however an application for amendment Ex 44 was submitted by the claimant for enhancing the claim for compensation to the sum of Rs. 95 0 and the amendment was allowed. The amount claimed was split up under the various heads in the application as follows: Rs. 50 0 Loss of income. Rs. 5 0 Pain shock and suffering. Rs. 40 0 Cost of medical treatment transportation and diet charges cost of attendance etc. ______________ Rs. 95 0 Be it stated that so far as compensation under the head of medical treatment etc. is concerned the claimants case in the application was that he had incurred actual expenditure of Rs. 26 0 and that a further expenditure of Rs. 9 0 to Rs. 10 0 was likely to be incurred in future. The claimant however claimed a round sum of Rs. 40 0 under the said head. The Tribunal awarded total compensation in the sum of Rs. 7 0 under the following heads : rs. 3 0 Actual cost of medical treatment. Rs. 1 0 Loss of income for a period of two months. Rs. 3 0 Pain shock and suffering. _____________ Rs. 7 0 The claimant has challenged the award on the ground that it is grossly inadequate and he has claimed enhanced compensation in the sum of Rs. 68 0 in the appeal. The claim in cross-objections is confined to the amount awarded namely Rs. 7 0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 BIO-DATA OF THE CLAIMANT :

( 3 ) AS earlier pointed out the claimant was a man in his middle fifties at the time of the accident. He was a businessman residing in the town of Matar in Kaira District. He was a partner in a firm carrying on business in textiles at Matar in the name and style of M/s. Popatlal Parsottamdas Shah. The extent of his share in the said business was 60 paise in a rupee. There was only one other partner in the said firm and his share was 40 paise (See Exhs. 86 and 89: assessment orders ). The claimant was also a partner in another firm carrying on business at Matar in the name and style of Ekaj Bhav Vastu Bhandar. In the said firm his share was 45 paise in a rupee. There were two other partners in the said arm and the extent of their share was 35 and 20 paise in a rupee. (See Ex. 88: assessment order.) In both the said firms the claimant had not only invested funds but he also used to attend to the business. In fact he appears to have been the main working partner attending to purchases and sales. The books of account of M/s. Popatlal Parsottamdas Shah for Samvat ears 2028 to 2031 which are produced in this case are also admittedly written by him