The judgment establishes that contributory negligence can reduce the liability of the party at fault in motor vehicle accidents.

JUDGMENT

Rameshwar Vyas, J. - The instant appeal under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been filed by the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (Afterwards referred to as 'RSRTC') for setting aside the award dated 1.3.2019 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Nohar in Motor Accident Claim Case No.17/2017 titled Pawan Kumar & Ors. vs. RSRTC & Anr.

2. Brief facts of the case are as under:-

3. Deceased Prabhat died in a road accident on 1.2.2016. He was driver of the Pick-up bearing Registration No. RJ07-G-6924. He was going from Thaladka to Nohar. Roadways Bus bearing Registration No. RJ22-PA-1297 driven by Mahaveer Prasad, rashly and negligently, hit the Pick-up. As a result of which, Prabhat sustained injuries and died on the spot.

4. Deceased was aged 28 years and was sole owner of the Departmental Store and earning Rs.30,000/- per month. Claimants claimed Rs.2,12,64,000/- with interest @ 18% from the driver and owner of the Bus, RSRTC.

5. During trial, Rekha wife of the deceased AW-1, eyewitness Madan Lal AW-2, Pawan Kumar AW-3 and father of the deceased Pawan Kumar AW4, were produced on behalf of the claimants. Driver and conductor of the Bus Mahaveer Prasad NAW-1 and Balveer NAW-2 were produced for non-claimants in the Court. Total 18 documents were exhibited by the claimants during the trial. After conducting inquiry, learned Tribunal awarded a sum of Rs.11,84,409/- with interest @ 6% per annum.

6. As per judgment, negating the plea of the non-claimants regarding contributory negligence of the deceased, learned Tribunal fastened the whole liability on the appellant/non-claimants.

7. The income of the deceased was ascertained taking into consideration the minimum wages of unskilled labour as Rs.5,226/- per month. Multiplier of 17 was applied for calculating the loss of dependency. Looking to the number of dependents, 1/4 amount was deducted from the annual income towards personal expenses. Total Rs.65,000/- were awarded in conventional heads.

8. During the arguments, learned counsel for the appellant contended that learned Tribunal erred in negating the contention of non-claimants regarding contributory negligence of the deceased in the accident. As per the site plan and evidence available on record, the accident took place in the mid of road. On the fateful day, on account of poor visibility due to fog, Pick-up driver failed to see the Bus coming from the opposite side and collided with the Bus while Pick-up was trying to overtake the Tractor. Hence, the accident occurred on account of negligence of the deceased. The driver of the Bus was not responsible for the accident occurred. Learned Tribunal has seriously erred in accepting the evidence produced in support of the claimants and discarding the evidence of the driver and conductor of the Bus.

9. During the arguments, learned counsel for the appellant does not press the other grounds raised in the appeal.

10. On the contrary, learned counsel for the respondents has submitted that accident took place on account of rash and negligent driving on the part of the driver of roadways Bus. The deceased was not at fault. Learned Tribunal did not commit any error in rejecting the evidence produced by the non-claimants. Accident could have been avoided by the roadways Bus driver. In the above circumstances, the appeal deserves to be dismissed.

11. Having considered the rival contentions of learned counsel for the parties and after perusing the material available on record, this Court is of the opinion that learned Tribunal has failed to consider the evidence produced by the non-claimants in reasonable and proper manner. The impugned judgment reveals that more weightage was given to the statement of father and wife of the deceased, who were not present at the spot at the time of accident, in comparison to the evidence of driver and conductor of the Bus, while deciding the issue of rash and negligent driving of the Bus. Learned Tribunal has also heavily relied upon the