- (1.) ALL these revision petitions and appeal are filed by the union of India, represented by the South central Railway, Secunderabad, against the orders of the Motor Accidents Claims tribunal, Guntur in M. V. O. P. Nos. 1068, 181, 182 and 184 of 1999.
(2.) THE claimants met with bus accident. They filed claim petitions against the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport corporation (for short 'the A. P. S. R. T. C' ). Later, at the instance of the A. P. S. R. T. C. , the South Central Railway was impleaded as 2nd respondent in the petitions. The tribunal, while holding that there was negligence on the part of the driver of the bus held that the Railways contributed negligence to the extent of 40%.
(3.) SECTION 161 of the Railways Act, 1989 reads as follows: "negligently crossing unmanned level crossing:-If any person driving or leading a vehicle is negligent in crossing unmanned level crossing, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year. Explanation:-For the purposes of this section, "negligence" in relation to any person driving or leading a vehicle in crossing an unmanned level crossing means the crossing of such level crossing by such person- (a) without stopping or caring to stop the vehicle near such level crossing to observe whether any approaching rolling stock is in sight, or (b) even while an approaching rolling stock is in sight. " the explanation indicates the nature of negligence to attract this section. It amounts to negligence to cross an unmanned level crossing while the approaching train is clearly in sight. Clause (a) of the explanation describes the type of care required for crossing an unmanned level crossing. ;