An employer is vicariously liable for the negligence of its employees acting within the scope of their employment. The employer has a duty to take reasonable care to ensure that its employees are fit to perform their duties and that they have the necessary training and equipment to do so safely.

V.K. Mehrotra, J.—These are appeals under section 110-D of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter, the Act) and are directed against a common Award dated December 29, 1982, of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Simla. Various claim petitions, resulting in the Award under challenge, arose out of the same accident. They were tried together, after consolidation, and by consent of parties evidence was recorded in the claim petition of claimant Nand Kishore (Claim Petition No. 17-S/2 of 1980). The accident took place on June 14, 1980, at about 5.00 p.m. when bus No. HPS 1667 belonging to the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (Local Unit, Simla) went down the Circular Road just below Hotel Holiday Home. As a result, a number of persons travelling in the bus received . injuries and some of them succumbed to the injuries sustained by them. Baldev Singh, the third respondent, was driving the bus.

2. In the claim petitions it was said that the bus was being driven by the driver rashly and negligently and while it crossed the Forest Office of the Municipal Corporation, Simla, near the lift and was descending just below the Holiday Home Hotel, Simla, it first struck against a stationary jeep bearing registration No. HIM 13 and then rolled into the khud along with the jeep. The vehicle was being driven by the driver in the course of his duty while he was in the employment of the HRTC. The driver was not in a fit condition to drive the vehicle because he was suffering from epilepsy. The HRTC entrusted the bus for being driven by him inspite of knowledge about the ailment of the driver and it was liable to compensate the claimants on account of its negligent act of net taking due care and caution in the matter.

3. In its written statement the HRTC said that the driver was not driving the bus rashly or negligently and that the accident took place "because of unavoidable and inevitable circumstances beyond human control which could not be foreseen and amounts to an act of God" and, therefore, the respondents are not responsible for the same and the compensation claimed against the respondents was not admissible. The driver (Baldev Singh), in the written statement filed by him. said, amongst other things, that he was driving the bus carefully and that the accident took place on account of fault in the vehicle itself. He disclaimed any liability for payment of compensation.

4. In the rejoinder, to the written statement filed on behalf of the HRTC, it was reiterated on behalf of the petitioners that the accident took place due to rash and negligent driving of the driver. It was denied that the accident was the result of circumstances beyond human control or that it occurred due to an act of God. Also, that there was a specific allegation that the HRTC knowingly employed the third respondent to drive the vehicle which itself was an act of negligence. In other words, it was stressed that the driver was suffering from epilepsy and the HRTC could not escape liability for payment of compensation as it did not take due care in employing the third respondent as the driver of the vehicle.

5. After the accident, the Deputy Commissioner, Simla, directed an enquiry into the cause of accident and entrusted it to the City Magistrate, Simla. One Shri D.R. Tanwar was the City Magistrate, Simla, at that time. He made an enquiry and submitted a detailed report. Shri Tanwar appeared as PW 11 before the Tribunal during the trial of these claim petitions. He stated that during the course of enquiry he recorded statements of a number of persons and on consideration thereof came to the conclusion that "the accident was result of the fact that the driver of the bus had an attack of epilepsy with the result that he could not control the vehicle which rolled down the road" Shri Tanwar also stated in his cross-examination that he had come to the conclusion that the driver was suffering from epilepsy after recording the statement of Dr. R.R. Gupta, Professor and