JUDGMENT :

The appellant is the petitioner in O.P.(MV) No.475/2016 on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Taliparamba. The respondent in the appeal was the 3rd respondent in the claim petition. The parties are, for the sake of convenience, referred to as per their status in the claim petition.

2. The petitioner had filed the claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short “Act”) claiming compensation on account of the injuries that he sustained in a motor accident on 18.11.2015.

3. The case of the petitioner in, brief, for the determination of the appeal in the claim petition is that on 18.11.2015 while he was travelling in a car bearing Reg. No. KL 59 H 2382 from Kozhikode to Taliparamba, a car bearing Reg. No. KL 59L 1517 (offending vehicle) driven by the 1st respondent, in a rash and negligent manner, hit the car in which the petitioner was travelling. The petitioner sustained serious injuries. He was hospitalised as an inpatient for 54 days and underwent treatment in different spells for the period from 18.11.2015 to 26.10.2016. The pet