JUDGMENT :

The appellants were the petitioners in OP(MV) 473/2004 on the file of the Additional Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Alappuzha. The respondents in the appeal were the respondents in the claim petition. 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 Sec.163A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short 'the Act'), claiming compensation on account of the death of one Rajesh (deceased), who was the son of petitioners 1 and 2 and the brother of the third petitioner.

3. The concise case of the petitioners in the claim petition was that on 7.3.2004, while the deceased was travelling in a car bearing registration No.KL-5/L 7444, the car hit on the rear portion of a lorry bearing registration No.KL-4/E 9759. The deceased sustained serious injuries and died within a few minutes after the accident. There was negligence on the part of the drivers of the car as well as the lorry. The first respondent was the driver and second respondent was the owner of the lorry, the fourth re