( 1 ) THIS is an appeal under Section 110-D of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, (hereinafter called the Act), from an award of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, indore.

( 2 ) ON April 26, 1963, at about 4 p. m. , Rajendra Kumar, a boy of 7 years, was sitting on the pathway a few yards away from the highway, on the outskirts of village Jamli, where he lived with his father, Parasram (respondent No. 1 ). The boy was answering the call of nature. In the meantime, a passenger bus, M. P. E. 3564, belonging to Mangilal (appellant) and driven by Kale Khan (respondent No. 2) came on the wrong side of the road and ran over the boy causing severe injuries to him, which resulted in his instantaneous death.

( 3 ) PARASRAM lodged a claim for Rupees 20,000/-before the Claims Tribunal constituted under Section 110 of the Act against Mangilal, Kale Khan and the indian Merchantile Insurance Co. Ltd. , (respondent No. 3, hereinafter called the insurer) on the allegation that the bus was driven at a high speed and that the accident was due to negligence of the driver, Mangilal and Kale Khan resisted the claim in a joint written statement. The insurer, with whom the owner was insured ag