The court held that the evidence of eyewitnesses is sufficient to establish the involvement of a vehicle in an accident, even if the driver was acquitted in the criminal case.

1. - The claim of the appellants, Who are the parents, brothers and sisters of the deceased Hemendra Singh, was dismissed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Ajmer, on 21.8.1984 and against this decision the present appeal has been preferred.

2. Hemendra was a student of Class IV in St. Judice School, Adarshnagar, Ajmer. On the fateful day, i.e., on 6.1.1977, he was returning home after taking tuition and he was sitting on the pillion seat of the bicycle driven by Kaliya. The allegation is that when they were on Mayo College Link Road, truck No. RJZ 9041 came at fast speed and the driver Beharidas came driving the truck rashly and negligently and at that time the accident occurred and Hemendra was crushed under the wheel of the truck. He died on the spot. Damages to the extent of Rs. 80,000/- were claimed. It was mentioned in the claim that the ambition of the parents was to make the deceased a doctor after giving him good education. It was also mentioned that the maternal father of the deceased wanted to adopt him and he had extensive property. All the ambitions came to end with the death of Hemendra.

3. One written statement was filed by the owner and the driver of the truck while a separate written statement was filed by the insurance company. The owner and driver denied the accident as well as the claim for compensation. It was mentioned that the driver Beharidas had been acquitted in the criminal case under Section 304A, Indian Penal Code, against which no appeal or revision was filed. The insurance company also denied that the accident took place with the track in question. In the additional pleas, it was mentioned that Kaliya was not an experienced cyclist and he could not control his vehicle as two persons were riding the same and the accident occurred because he lost the control. It was mentioned that the driver of the truck tried his best to avoid the accident, hence the insurance company was not liable to pay the compensation.

4. The learned Judge framed the following issues:

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5. Issue No. 1 was discussed and after considering the evidence produced in the case it was held that the evidence was not sufficient to hold that truck No. RJZ 9041 was involved in the accident or that Beharidas was driving the same rashly or negligently. The evidence about rash and negligent driving was also not accepted, as such the claim was dismissed.

6. The learned counsel for the appellants has contended that the acquittal of the vehicle driver by the criminal court is not binding in claims proceedings and the evidence which had been led in these proceedings can be said to be relevant for purpose of arriving at a finding in these proceedings. For this proposition reliance has been placed on Mahavir Pershad v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi 1975 ACJ 190 (Delhi) . This is not contested by the learned counsel for the respondents and it can be said that the evidence in this particular case is to be looked into in order to decide as to how the accident occurred and who could be made liable for the same.

7. There are eye-witnesses of the incident. PW 3, Simon David, has stated that he is a neighbour of the father of Hemendra and Hemendra used to go for tuition every evening. On 6.1.1977 this witness went to a betel shop known as Milan Pan Wala at about 6.00 p.m. At that time he saw Hemendra coming riding on the pillion seat of the bicycle driven by Kaliya. They were coming from Nasirabad Road to Mayo Link Road when a truck came from the back side of the witness and it was being driven at a very fast speed. The track came on the left side of the bic