Munni Bai and ors. Vs. Raj Bahadur and ors. - Court Judgment

Excerpt:

.....than one person in addition to himself on the motor cycle. similarly, rule 123 of the rules mentions the safety devices to be provided while manufacturing a motor cycle. these provisions obviously are safety measures for the drivers and pillion riders and breach of such safety measures may amount to negligence but such negligence will not amount to contributory negligence on the part of the pillion rider or composite negligence on the part of the driver of the motor cycle, unless such negligence was partly the immediate cause of the accident or damage suffered by the pillion rider. if the damage in the accident has not been caused partly on account of violation of section 128 of the act by the pillion rider of the motor cycle, the pillion rider is not guilty of contributory negligence. similarly, if the damage suffered by the pillion rider has not been caused partly on account of violation of section 128 of the act by the driver, the pillion rider cannot put up a plea of composite negligence by the driver. in other words, if breach of section 128 of the act, does not have a causal connection with the damage caused to the pillion rider, such breach would not amount to..........manager, kerala state road trans. corporation v. susamma thomas 1994 acj 1 (sc), the proper multiplier will be 13. the amount of compensation thus works out to rs. 8,000 x 13 = rs. 1,04,000. to this a sum of rs. 5,000 would be added as loss of consortium, rs. 2,000 as funeral expenses and rs. 2,500 as loss to estate. the total compensation would be rs. 1,13,500. the tribunal erred in taking monthly dependency at rs. 450 only and then again making a deduction of 1/3rd from the total amount of compensation arrived at. the award, therefore, cannot be maintained. the appellants would, therefore, be entitled to get a sum of rs. 1,13,500 with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of application till realisation.5. the insurance company, respondent no. 3, is directed to deposit the amount less the amount already deposited within a period of two months from the date of supply of certified copy of this order failing which the amount shall carry interest at the rate of 15 per cent per annum. on deposit, the amount shall be disbursed to the appellants keeping in mind the well settled guidelines laid down by the apex court.6. in the result, the appeal is allowed.....