P.S. Gopinathan, J.

Oriental Insurance Company, the third respondent in O.P.(MV)Nos.303/02, 1107/02 and 1209/03, petitions under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Punalur, is the appellant in all these three appeals. Original Petition was also filed by the very same company who was also the third respondent in O.P.(MV).1210/03. Hereinafter, the company is referred to as the appellant. By a common order dated 16/12/06 in O.P. (MV) Nos.303/02, 1107/02, 1209/03 and 1210/03, separate awards were passed by the Tribunal below against the appellant directing it to pay the compensation awarded in favour of the respective claimants. Assailing the above common order and respective awards, these appeals and the Original Petition were filed.

2. The brief facts leading to the appeals and the Original Petition are as follows:- At 8.30

a.m. on 26/08/01 at Mukka along Mangalore-Udippi NH-47, a motor accident occurred involving a bus owned by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and a mini bus. As a result, four passengers travelling in the KSRTC Bus sustained injuries, to which Viswanathan and Babu Mohan succumbed. The le