BHAGWANI SAHU Vs. VIJAY KUMAR MOHANTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The moot question that arises for consideration in this appeal preferred under section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') is whether grant of compensation in a sum of Rs. 75,000 to the agonised parents who have sustained the loss of their daughter whose life spark was extinguished being dashed against by the Tempo owned by the appellant herein is justified or not. Mr. H.B. Agrawal, learned counsel for the appellant would like us to interfere with the award on a solitary ground that the deceased was a seventeen years old girl and would not have contributed to the parents for long, and hence the quantum determined by the Tribunal is not only excessive and illegal but also unpragmatic.

(2.) Before we deal with the contention of Mr. Agrawal which reflects the gender discrimination without any other factual foundation, it is essential to narrate some essential facts that unfold the tragic end of the victim Mahamaya.

(3.) The facts: In the afternoon of 7.5.93, Mahamaya, a student of 12th standard who was engaged in private tuition was going to her pupils' house on her bicycle. Near Maroda Sector, Tempo bearing registration No. 8052, being driven in a rash and negligent manner by the driver, respondent No. 3 herein, dashed against her cycle as a result of which she sustained multiple injuries. Eventually she succumbed to her injuries. The shocked and tortured parents knocked at the doors of the Tribunal for getting compensation for the death of their dear one by filing the Claim Case No. 11 of 1994.