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IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
JASPREET SINGH, J.
United India Insurance Company Ltd. Throu. Divisional Manager – Appellant
Versus
Smt. Neetu Soni And Ors. – Respondent
FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. 237, 238, 244 of 2014
Decided On : 19-07-2021
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 - Section 173 - Claim petitions - Contributory negligence - Stated that the offending truck did not hit the motorcycle from behind rather the motorcycle was being driven rashly and negligently and while overtaking the truck, it hit the middle part of the truck which caused the accident, ultimately, this being a case of contributory negligence, hence, the owner sought to avoid its liability - Whether the Insurance Company can avoid its liability to the third parties i.e. the claimants for the truck being un-insured on the date of the accident - Whether three persons riding on a motorcycle in violation of the traffic rules without helmet per-se would amount to contributory negligence or the manner in which the accident has occurred is to be ascertained and whether in the said occurrence it has to be determined that the rider of the motorcycle had committed an act which contributed to the accident
Finding of the court: Dictum as noticed above is binding on this Court, coupled with the fact that the Insurance Company has already been granted the right of recovery and the claimant-third parties may not suffer especially where the persons have lost their lives in an accident and the compensation granted under the Motor Vehicles Act is a part of social beneficial scheme, hence, considering the aforesaid aspect of the matter, this Court is in agreement with the findings recorded by the Tribunal - Merely because three persons were riding the motorcycle and they were not wearing helmets in itself will not give rise to any inference that this act contributed towards the accident while there is clear evidence that the offending vehicle had hit the motorcycle from behind - In order to successfully contest the plea of contributory negligence, it must be shown that the person injured or deceased must have committed an act of negligence and such act contributed to the accident directly in the chain of events resulting in the cause of the accident - In the absence of any evidence to show that the wrongful act on the part of the deceased victim contributed either to the accident or to the nature of the injuries sustained, the victim could not have been held guilty of contributory negligence. Hence, the reduction of 10% towards contributory negligence, is clearly unjustified and the same has to be set aside.
Result: Appeal dismissed
JUDGMENT :
1. This is a batch of three appeals filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 against the award dated 24.12.2013 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/ADJ, Court No. 16, Lucknow.
2. An accident took place on 31.01.2012 at around 10:00 PM wherein Sri Anuj Kumar Soni, Yadu Nath @ Guddu and Sanjay Sharma, all three, were riding on a motorcycle bearing No. U.P. 32-BQ-9201 and while moving towards Lucknow from Atariya side, near Ram Avtar Dhaba, Bhitauli Wahad, P.S. Madion, District Lucknow, a truck bearing No. HR-38 D-1220 belonging to Sri Owais Khan and was said to be driven rashly and negligently hit the motorcycle from behind as a result the three riders of the motorcycle suffered grievous injuries and all three died on the spot.
3. The legal heirs of Anuj Kumar Soni preferred claim petition No. 101 of 2012 wherein by means of the award dated 24.12.2013, a sum of Rs. 6,95,000/-was awarded along with 7 % interest per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of its actual payment. This claim petition No. 101 of 2012 has given rise to F.A.F.O. No. 237 of 2014. In the aforesaid F.A.F.O. No. 237 of 2014, it was pointed out by the learned counsel for the private respondents that Smt. Rameshwari Devi had expired during the pendency of the appeal while her legal heirs are already on record as respondent nos. 1 and 2.
4. Considering the aforesaid, the Court permitted the appellants to carry out the necessary amendments in the array of parties during the course of the day.
5. The legal heirs of Yadu Nath @ Guddu preferred claim petition No. 99 of 2012 wherein the MACT/ADJ Court No. 16, Lucknow awarded a sum of Rs. 5,4,600/-along with 7 % interest per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of its actual payment and this claim petition has given rise to F.A.F.O. No. 238 of 2014.
6. The legal heirs of Sanjay Sharma preferred a claim petition no. 100 of 2012 wherein by means of award dated 24.12.2013 passed by the MACT/ADJ, Court No. 16, Lucknow awarded a sum of Rs. 4,74,000/-along with 7% interest per annum payable from the date of filing of the claim petition till the date of its actual payment and this claim petition has given rise to F.A.F.O. No. 244 of 2014.
7. That since the three claim petitions relates to the same accident and three separate and different persons lost their lives, consequently, the legal heirs of the said deceased had preferred the claim petitions wherein the defendant i.e. the owner of the offending vehicle namely Owais Khan was impleaded as respondent no. 4 in F.A.F.O. No. 237 of 2014 whereas in the other two connected F.A.F.Os., he is impleaded as respondent nos. 7 and 6 respectively. Since the appellant namely United India Insurance Company Ltd. had assailed the award dated 24.12.2013 passed in the above mentioned three appeals on similar grounds and common questions of law and facts are involved, hence, the Court proceeds to decide three appeals together by means of this common judgment.
8. In order to appreciate the controversy involved in the aforesaid three appeals, briefly, the facts giving rise to the appeals are being noticed first:-
9. On 31.01.2012 at around 10:00 PM, three persons namely Anuj Soni, Yadu Nath @ Guddu and Sanjay Kumar Sharma were riding on a motorcycle bearing No. U.P. 32-BQ-9201. It is further stated that while they were moving from Attaria towards Lucknow and had reached Ram Avtar Dhaba at Bhitauli Wahad, P.S. Madiyaon, District Lucknow, the offending truck bearing No. HR-38-D-1220 which was being driven rashly and negligently hit the said motorcycle from behind as a result, three riders of the motorcycle sustained grievous injuries and they expired on the spot. It is also stated that the offending vehicle belonged to Sri Owais Khan and was duly insured with United India Insurance Company Ltd.
10. The owner of the truck Owais Khan filed his written statement and had submitted that the offending truck in q
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