IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.

......Appellant vs.

SARLA DEVI AND ORS.

......Respondents Reserved on:- 30.01.2026 Pronounced on:- 25.02.2026 Uploaded on:- 06.03.2026 Whether only the operative part of the judgment is pronounced? NO Whether full judgment is pronounced? YES CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUDEEPTI SHARMA Present: Mr. D.P. Gupta, Advocate for the appellant.

Mr. Manjit Singh Gahlawat, Advocate for respondents No.1 and 2.

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SUDEEPTI SHARMA J.

1. The present appeal has been preferred against the award dated 01.12.2017 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Hisar (for short, 'the Tribunal’) in the claim petition filed under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, wherein the appellant-Insurance company was fastened with the liability to pay the compensation of Rs.41,65,432/- to the claimants along with interest @ 7.5 % per annum from the date of filing of claim petition till recovery.

BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE

2. Brief facts of the case are that on 08.12.2015 deceased Mahavir Singh son of Chanda Ram, who after retirement from Army was serving as Laboratory Technician in Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar accompanied by his nephews Sunil Kumar son of Kehar Singh, Dinesh son of Mohar Singh, resident of village Jeetpura, Tehsil Hansi District Hisar and some other persons was waiting for Bus at Bus Stand, Jeetpura for going to Hansi. At about 9.30 AM when Mahavir Singh (now deceased) after urinating had come on the road, in the meantime, a Haryana Roadways Bus of Hisar Depot came from village Bhatol side, which was being driven at a high speed, in careless and negligent manner and without blowing any horn came towards Bus Stand, Jeetpura and Mahavir Singh (now deceased) gave signal with his hand to the driver to stop the Bus and the side of the front side window of the moving bus struck against Mahavir Singh, as a result of which, he had fallen on the road and the back side couple of tyres of the Bus run over his head and the Bus was stopped at about a distance of 50 feet ahead of Bus Stand, Jeetpura. The registration number of the Bus was noted as HR39B/0083 of Hisar Depot. Both Sunil and Dinesh nephews of Mahavir Singh and other passengers standing at Bus Stand, came on the spot and found that head and face of Mahavir Singh was badly insured, while there were injuries on his right hand, mouth, head, ear, forehead and the blood was oozing. Due to injuries, he died at the spot. After causing accident, the driver of the Bus ran away from the spot. FIR No. 455 dated 08.12.2015 under section 279 and 304-A of Indian Penal Code was lodged with Police Station, Sadar Hansi. It was asserted that deceased was 53 years old. Deceased was an Ex-serviceman and was serving as Laboratory Technician with G.J.U. Hisar. He was getting Rs.32,934/- per month as salary from GJU, Hisar and Rs.13,000/- as pension from Army Authorities. That due to untimely death of deceased, claimants have been deprived of income, love, affection and society of deceased Mahavir Singh.

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Claimants have accordingly sought compensation of 1,00,00,000/- (Rs.One Crore only).

3. Upon notice of the claim petition, respondents therein appeared and contested the claim petition by filing separate written statement denying the factum of accident/compensation.

4. From the pleadings of the parties, the Tribunal framed the following issues:-

“1. Whether the mishap in question was the direct result of rash driving of Haryana Roadways Bus bearing registration no. HR39B-0083 on the part of respondent No.1 Ram Bhagat son of Shri Suraj Bhan which had resulted into death of Mahavir Singh ? OPP

2. Whether the petitioners are entitled to receive the compensation amount for the death of Mahavir Singh ? If so, how much and from whom ?OPP

3. Whether respondent No.1 Ram Bhagat did not possess a valid driving licence at the time of the mishap and the insured had violated the terms and conditions of the insurance policy and the insuranc