The main legal point established is that ownership of a vehicle, as defined and determined by the Motor Vehicles Act, is crucial in determining liability for compensation in accidents involving uninsured vehicles.

( 1 ) RESPONDENT No. 2 despite service is absent. Accordingly, this appeal is being disposed of in his absence :

( 2 ) THE only question involved in this appeal filed under Section 173 of the Motor vehicles Act, 1988 (1988 Act for short) revolves around the issue of the ownership of the vehicle involved in the accident and hence the consequential question of the liability resting upon such owner to pay the compensation amount. This question has assumed significance because of the admitted factual circumstance that the vehicle involved in the accident was not insured.

( 3 ) THE brief facts of the case are as under :

( 4 ) THE deceased Zakir Hussain, son of the claimant respondent No. 1 was a student of class II when he was aged about 7 years. On 1-12-1989 while he was playing along with other boys in front of his door by the side of a road, truck bearing registration no. BHM 1314 came from the side of morradighat and it ran over the deceased resulting in his death on the spot. It was alleged that this truck was being driven rashly and negligently. In the claim petition filed by the respondent No. 1/claimant, the following eight issues were framed by the Tribunal for adjudication :" 1. Is the suit maintainable in its present form? 2. Whether the driver of the vehicle Truck no. BHM 1314 was driving the same rashly and negligently at the time of accident? 3. Whether the deceased died in the Motor Vehicle Accident? 4. Whether the Imran Ansari defendant no. 1 or Rajesh Kumar Sharma defendant no. 2 was the real owner of the aforesaid vehicle at the time of accident? 5. Whether the Truck bearing Registration No. BHM 1314 was insured withany insurance company? 6. Whether the deceased died as a result of his own fault and any guilty of contributory negligence? 7. Whether the claimant is entitled for the compensation as sought for? 8. Is the claimant entitled for any other relief or reliefs?"

( 5 ) IN this appeal, we are not concerned with the findings on other issues, except the finding with respect to issue No. 4. Issue No. 4 had arisen because of the fact that in the claim petition as originally filed, the appellant Imran Ansary was impleaded as the respondent owner of the vehicle in question, but in the written statement filed by him, he had pleaded that he was not the owner of the vehicle. His case was that the respondent No. 2 Rajesh Kumar Sharma was the owner of the vehicle because he was the registered owner of the vehicle. Because of this stand taken by the appellant Imran Ansary in his written statement, the claim petition came to be appropriately amended and rajesh Kumar Sharma, (respondent No. 2 herein) was added as defendant No. 2 in the claim petition.

( 6 ) IN the written statement filed by Rajesh kumar Sharma, it was averred by him that he was in fact the owner of the vehicle till 26th August 1989, but that on that day, he sold the vehicle to Imran Ansary. The appellant, according to Rajesh Kumar Sharma took the delivery of the vehicle on the same day and since then, he has been plying the vehicle as its owner. According to Rajesh Kumar sharma, on the date of the accident i. e. 1-12-1989, the vehicle was accordingly owned by the appellant Imran Ansary and, therefore, Rajesh Kumar Sharma was not liable to pay any compensation. During the course of the trial in so far as Issue No. 4 is concerned, respondent Rajesh Kumar Sharma produced four witnesses, who all deposed to the effect that he had sold the vehicle on 26-8-1989 to appellant Imran Ansary. In evidence, a document styled as "letter of delivery" was tendered by Rajesh Kumar Sharma by which it was sought to be proved that imran Ansary had taken the delivery of the vehicle and that he had paid the consideration thereof. For ready reference we re-produce hereinbelow the aforesaid document which was marked as Ext. B by the Tribunal and the signature of Imran Ansary on this document put on 26-8-1989 was marked as ext. A. The document reads thus :"letter of Deliver