VINEY MITTAL, J. - (1.) THIS order shall dispose of a bunch of 21 appeals. All the appeals have been filed by Oriental Insurance Company Limited and have arisen out of a common award dated December 4, 1996.
(2.) AN accident occurred on April 14, 1994 at about 8.30 a.m. in the area of Village Pundrak when Bus No. DBP 904 being driven by Hardayal Singh fell into a canal. On account of the aforesaid fact several passengers in the Bus were killed and many others were injured. The dependents of the deceased persons and injured, themselves filed claim petitions before the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Karnal, (for short 'the Tribunal'). AH the claim petitions were consolidated by the learned Tribunal for trial. A common plea taken by the claimants in all the petitions was that Hardayal Singh driver of the Bus was driving the vehicle rashly and negligently and at a very fast speed. He was repeatedly asked by the passengers (members of the marriage party) to drive it slowly but he did not pay any heed to the aforesaid request. Ultimately when crossing the canal, in the area of village Pundrak, the driver could not control the Bus because of its high speed and as a result thereof the Bus fell in the canal resulting into the death/injury of the occupants.
(3.) THE learned Tribunal on the basis of the evidence available on the record found it as a fact that the driver of the offending vehicle was driving the Bus rashly and negligently. Consequently, it was held that the claimants were entitled to compensation. A plea was taken by the Insurance Company before the Tribunal that there were violations and breach of the terms of the policy. It was claimed that the Bus was overloaded and further that the Bus was being driven outside Delhi area, for which the bus was not carrying the requisite permit. The Insurance Company attempted to avoid its liability by taking the aforesaid plea. Both the aforesaid contentions were duly considered by the Tribunal, but rejected. It was held that no evidence had been led by the Insurance Company to come to the conclusion that the Bus in question was overloaded. It was further held that merely because the Bus in question was carrying the passengers outside the Delhi area, in violation of the route permit, would not absolve the Insurance Company of its liability. Consequently, the claim petitions filed by the claimants were allowed and different compensation was assessed in each case.;