JUDGMENT :

The 6th respondent – United India Insurance Company Ltd -in O.P(MV) No.1528/1998 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Ernakulam is the appellant. The respondents 1 to 4 were the claimants in the claim petition and the respondents 5 to 10 were the respondents 1 to 7 in the claim petition. The respondents 11 to 18, the legal representatives of the deceased 4th respondent, were impleaded during the pendency of the appeal. The parties are for the sake of convenience, referred to as per their status in the claim petition.

2. The petitioners had filed the claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act,1988 (for brevity referred to as “Act”) claiming compensation on account of the death of one Kunjan Bava – the husband of the 1st petitioner, the father of petitioners 2 and 3 and son of the 4th petitioner.

3. The concise background facts pleaded in the claim petition, which are relevant for the determination of the appeal, are: on 6.4.1998 when Kunjan Bava (deceased), a loading and unloading worker, was travelling in a lorry bearing Reg.No.KLG -2205 through the Madavana – Panangad road, a tempo van bearing Reg. No.KLB-9234 (offending vehicle) driven by th