The main legal point established in the judgment is that an unintended and unforeseen injurious occurrence, even if caused by negligence, can qualify as an accident under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Additionally, the judgment emphasizes the importance of obtaining permission under Section 170 of the Act for the maintainability of appeals.

B.P. Katakey, J.

1. By these appeals the insurance company has challenged the common judgment and award dated 26.3.2004 passed by learned Member, Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Dimapur, Nagaland awarding compensation to the claimants for the death of passengers travelling in a bus bearing registration No. NL 01-B 0273 belonging to Thangkhomang Sitihon, on the ground that death of the deceased passengers were not accidental arising out of the use of the motor vehicle but purely murder.

2. The facts leading to the filing of the present appeals in brief is that the claimants filed applications under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short 'the Act') claiming compensation for the death of the passengers travelling in the bus bearing registration No. NL 01-B 0273, stating, inter alia, that on 9.12.1996 at about 6.30 a.m. the vehicle was proceeding from Athibung to Dimapur via Jalukie with about 40 to 45 passengers, that while the bus was passing through a jungle area before Kiyevi village, some people coming from the opposite direction stopped the bus and informed its driver that they had definite information of the presence of some armed people in and around Jalukie area to attack innocent civilians travelling in any vehicle in that area and asked the driver to return back to Athibung and not to proceed any further towards Jalukie side but the driver in spite of the request made by the passengers not to proceed towards Dimapur further, did not pay any heed and continued to proceed towards Dimapur and while the bus was negotiating a curve of the road a little while ahead some armed persons stopped the bus and fired indiscriminately resulting in the death of 28 passengers on the spot and other two in the hospitals. The claimants filed the claim applications claiming compensation for the death of such passengers contending that it was an accident which occurred due to irresponsibility and negligence of the driver and had the driver taken due care for the safety of the passengers or acted upon the information given as well as paying heed to the warning given by the passengers, the accident could have been averted. Learned Tribunal upon appreciation of the evidence on the record, both oral and documentary, awarded different sums as compensation ranging from Rs. 72,000 to Rs. 7,57,354. Hence the present appeals by the insurance company on the ground that the same was not an accident within the meaning of the Act but purely a murder, which occurred due to enmity between two communities.

3. I have heard Mr. B. Debnath, learned Counsel for the appellant and Mr. Imsoong, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the claimants. None appears for the owner as well as the driver of the vehicle, who have been impleaded as respondent, in the present appeals. As agreed to by learned Counsel for the parties all the appeals are taken up for hearing and disposal analogously as was done by a single judgment and award passed by the learned Tribunal, the claim cases were disposed of.

4. Mr. Debnath, the learned Counsel for the appellant has submitted that the death of the passengers travelling in the vehicle in question was not an accident within the meaning of the Act but was purely a murder and, therefore, the claimants are not entitled to any compensation for the death of such passengers and consequently the insurance company is not liable to satisfy the award passed by learned Tribunal. Referring to the police report submitted by the S.I. Athang Zeliang, the officer-in-charge of Jalukie Police Station, who was examined as witness by the insurance company as DW 5, learned Counsel has submitted that the officer-in-charge of the police station, within whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, has stated in the said report that the death occurred to the passengers of the vehicle because of ambush by the underground miscreants who opened fire on the bus which resulted in the death of 30 passengers. Referring to the deposition of DW 5, i.