JUDGMENT :

R. THARANI, J.

Prayer: This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is filed under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, against the award and decree made in M.C.O.P. No. 167 of 2016, dated 22.12.2017, on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/Special Sub Court, Tirunelveli.

1. This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal has been filed against the award made in M.C.O.P. No. 167 of 2016, dated 22.12.2017, on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/Special Sub Court, Tirunelveli. The appellant herein is the first respondent and the respondents 1 to 4 herein are the claimants and the respondents 5 and 6 herein are the respondents 2 and 3 in the original M.C.O.P. Petition.

2. Brief substance of the claim petition in M.C.O.P. No. 167 of 2016, is as follows:

The deceased was working as a driver in the second respondent-lorry bearing Registration No. TN-69-F-0365. He was earning a sum of Rs. 25,000/- per month. On 21.11.2015, at about 4.00 a.m. when the lorry was near Kasavanur Vilakku, along the Madurai to Trichy main road, the tyre of the lorry got punctured. The deceased got down from the lorry and he was making arrangement for changing the lorry tyre. At that time, a bus bearing Regist