- (1.) J. C. S. Rawat, J. This is an appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 filed by the claimant for enhancement of the com pensation awarded by the Motor Acci dent Claims Tribunal/district Judge, Rudraprayag, in Motor Accident claim Case No. 38 of 2003 on 10-3-2004.
(2.) BRIEF facts of the case are that on the ill-fated day i. e. 2-8-2003 at about 5. 00 p. m. Smt. Deveshwari Devi wife of claimant Trilok Singh was traveling in vehicle (Tata Sumo) No. UA 07-B-4973 which was going from Karanprayag to Srinagar. The said vehicle met with accident due to rash and negligent driving of its driver near Narkota-Khankhara in which Smt. Deveshwari Devi aged about 32 years died and her husband (claimant) re ceived injuries on his head. The de ceased was posted as Assistant Teacher under the Basic Education Officer, Chamoli at the time of accident. She was getting monthly salary Rs. 8044/ -. The claimant filed claim petition for compensation of Rs. 15,00,000/- before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal ). The claim petition was contested by the opposite parties by filing their separate written statement. The Opp. party No. 1 Oriental Insurance Com pany in its written statement denied the allegations of the claim petitions. It was further alleged that the offending vehi cle was being driven in violation of the terms and conditions of the policy Hence, the Opp. party-Insurance Com pany is not liable to pay any compensation. The Opp party No. 2-owner of the vehicle in question alleged that the vehicle in question was being driven by a skilled driver who was having a valid driving licence at the time of accident. The accident took place due to the me chanical failure in the vehicle and, if any, liabilities are made out, that shall be borne out by the Opp. Party No. 2-the Oriental Insurance Company with whom the offending vehicle was in sured at the time of alleged accident. The learned Tribunal framed necessary issues on the pleadings of the parties and allowed the claim petition for a total sum of Rs. 4,85,000/- as compensation alongwith interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of application till the date of realization against the Oriental Insurance Company. Feeling aggrieved, the Oriental Insurance Company/opp. Party No. 1 has come up in this appeal.
(3.) IN the appeal the Oriental INsur ance Company/respondent No. 2 filed cross objection. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the entire record.;