Judgment:
F.A.O.
No.3593 of 2013 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH F.A.O.No.3593 of 2013(O&M) Date of decision:-11.07.2013 Chief Manager, Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation, Churu Depot, Churu (Raj.) ......Appellant Versus Sunita and ors.......Respondents CORAM:HON'BLE Mr.JUSTICE VIJENDER SINGH MALIK Present: Mr.A.K.Gahlawat, Advocate for the appellant.
-- Vijender Singh Malik, J.
This is an appeal brought by the owner of offending bus against the award dated 16.03.2013 passed by learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Bhiwani (for short 'the Tribunal').who vide the impugned award has held under issue no.1 that accident has been an outcome of rash and negligent driving of the offending bus.
The case set up by the claimants in this regard is as under:- Kumar Dinesh 2013.07.17 12:40 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court,Chandigarh F.A.O.
No.3593 of 2013 -2- Ram Sawrup, the deceased alongwith Satpal was coming from Siwani to Barwa on his motorcycle.
The motorcycle was driven by Ram Sawrup at a moderate speed and when they were near Cotton Mill, Barwa, a Rajasthan Depot bus bearing registration not RJ-10-PA-3303 driven by respondent no.1 in a rash and negligent manner and also at a high speed came from the side of Hisar and had hit the motorcycle driven by Ram Sawrup.
The impact of the hit was that the riders of the motorcycle fell down on the road and were run over by the bus.
They died at the spot.
After causing the accident, respondent no.1 fled from the spot alongwith the bus.
FIR No.79 dated 19.04.2012 was registered at Police Station Siwani for an offence punishable under sections 279 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code.
Ram Sawrup was 48 years old at the time of the accident.
He was working as Sub Divisional Agricultural Officer, Siwani and was drawing salary of Rs.40,365/- per month.
Respondent no.1 did not appear despite service and was proceeded against ex-parte.
Respondent no.2 has denied in the written statement the taking place of the accident due to fault of respondent no.1 in driving the bus.
It is claimed that respondent no.1 was falsely involved in the criminal case.
Kumar Dinesh 2013.07.17 12:40 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court,Chandigarh F.A.O.
No.3593 of 2013 -3- Learned counsel for the appellant has contended that this is a case of head-on collision .
According to him, in case of head-on collision, the negligence would be contributory.
According to him, learned Tribunal has held the accident to be an outcome of sole rash and negligent driving of bus by respondent no.1.
According to him, for this reason finding on issue no.1 is liable to be modified.
In this case, Jagdish Chander, an eye witness of the occurrence, appearing at the trial as PW-2 , has stated that he was coming from the side from which the bus came.
The deceased came from the opposite side.
He has stated that at the place of occident, the bus overtook him and had hit the motorcycle of Ram Sawrup.
Head-on collision cannot imply contributory negligence in all circumstances.
Whether it is contributory negligence or not the answer would depend on the place of the road where the accident took place.
If the accident took place in the middle of the road, driver of both vehicles would be said to be equally negligent in driving the vehicles.
However, in this case, it appears that after over-taking the Bolero driven by Jagdish Chander, PW-2, the bus went to the wrong side and had Kumar Dinesh 2013.07.17 12:40 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court,Chandigarh F.A.O.
No.3593 of 2013 -4- hit the motorcycle which was being driven in a proper way.
Thus, it is a clear case where the responsibility for causing the accident is on the shoulders of the driver of the offending vehicle.
Since this was the only point involved in this appeal and no other point was argued before me, I find no merit in the appeal and dismiss the same in limine.
(VIJENDER SINGH MALIK) 11.07.2013 JUDGE dinesh Kumar Dinesh 2013.07.17 12:40 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court,Chandigarh