R.B. Misra, J. - (1.) THE aforesaid appeals are sequel to an unfortunate accident, which took place on 24th February, 1970, at about 5.00 a.m. on Varanasi Mirzapur Road near village Dum Duma -Ka Sewan within police station Chunar of district Mirzapur, in which three persons lost their lives and three others received injuries.
(2.) IT appears that on the fateful day, the marriage of the son of one Mr. Krishna Dass of Gorakhpur was to take place at Chunar. The marriage party left Gorakhpur by Express Train and reached Varanasi Cantt. at 3.00 a.m. On 24th February, 1970, a bus No. U.P.L. 805 was engaged for carrying the marriage party to Chunar. Besides Mr. Kirshna Dass, the marriage party included Moti Chand Agrawal, Dhruwa Kumar Agrawal, Sheo Mangal Singh, Jamuna Prasad, Murari Lal Agrawal, Ram Chandra Prasad and other persons. The bus, after picking up the marriage party at Varanasi Cantt., was proceeding towards Chunar and a truck was coming from the opposite direction. There was a collision of bus No. U.P.L. 805 and truck No. U.P.L. 5384. As a result of the collision, the bus fell down in a neighbouring ditch and six persons, who had boarded the bus, received injuries. Out of those six persons, two persons, namely, Moti Chand Agrawal and Sheo Mangal Singh, succumbed to their injuries on the spot whereas Dhruwa Kumar Agrawal succumbed to his injuries after three days in Sri Sunder Lal Hospital, Varanasi. The remaining three persons, namely, Jamuna Prasad, Murari Lal Agrawal and Ram Chandra Prasad, however, survived. One other person, who was sitting on the truck, fell down on the road and was also crushed to death by the bus. There is, however no claim petition on behalf of the legal representatives of the said person and, therefore, we are not concerned with him in the present appeals. The owner of the truck is Mr. C.L. Chetwani whereas the bus owner is Sri Ram Adhin Singh. The truck was insured with - - The Northern India General Insurance Co. Ltd. while the bus was insured with the Ruby General Insurance Co. Ltd. for Rs. 20,000/ - each.
(3.) SIX set of Claim petitions were filed by the heirs and legal representatives of the three deceased and by the three injured persons and they claimed various amounts of compensation under various heads, namely, for mental shock and physical pain and suffering, for loss of normal expectation of life for out of pocket expenses incurred on the performance of unexpected funeral ceremony and religious rites etc.;