Partly allowed

Ram Singh Pal and Anr. v. Raghvendra Pal and 2 Others

Allahabad HC5 Dec 2022FAFO/2924/2014

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Appeal against dismissal of a claim petition for compensation based on composite negligence. The court held the trial was erroneous as the Tribunal ignored the established case of composite negligence. The appeal was partly allowed and the matter remanded to the Tribunal for fresh determination within four months.

What did the court decide?

Matter remanded to the learned Tribunal for fresh determination of the claim within a period of four months.

Ram Singh Pal and Anr. Vs Raghvendra Pal and 2 Others — Allahabad HC (2022) — LawSathi Research

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Court No. - 7

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Case :- FIRST APPEAL FROM ORDER No. - 2924 of 2014 Appellant :- Ram Singh Pal And Anr. Respondent :- Raghvendra Pal And 2 Others Counsel for Appellant :- Manish Tandon Counsel for Respondent :- Rahul Sahai,M.P. Singh

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Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J.

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Heard Sri Mohd. Naushad Siddiqui, learned counsel for the appellants and Sri Aditya Singh Parihar, learned counsel holding brief of Sri Rahul Sahai, learned counsel for the respondents.

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The claimants had asserted a case of composite negligence in their claim petition before the learned Tribunal. It was specifically asserted that drivers of both the vehicles involved in the accident were driving rashly and negligently. The assertions in the claim petition were supported by consistent statements made by the witnesses introduced by the claimants in support of their case.

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In the wake of these facts, clearly this was a case of composite negligence. It was open to the claimants to lay the claim for compensation against either of the tort feasors.

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Of course the award of compensation is without prejudice to the rights of either tort feasors to recover the amount from the responsible party. The Tribunal lost sight of these facts while finding against the claimants and dismissing the claim petition.

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(Reference can be profitably laid down in Khenyei Vs

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New India Assurance Co. Ltd. and others reported at AIR 2015 SC 2261. The relevant para is quoted as hereunder:

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"14. There is a difference between contributory and composite negligence. In the case of contributory negligence, a person who has himself contributed to the extent cannot claim compensation for the injuries sustained by him in the accident to the extent of his own negligence; whereas in the case of composite negligence, a person who has suffered has not contributed to the accident but the outcome of combination of negligence of two or more other persons."

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In the wake of above the matter is remanded to the learned tribunal for fresh determination.

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It is clarified that this Court has not dealt with the case of the parties on merits. The case has to be decided on merits by the tribunal.

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The learned tribunal is directed to conclude the proceedings within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. The counsels for both the parties shall cooperate in the proceedings before the learned tribunal. The learned tribunal shall proceed with the hearing on a day to day basis to ensure that the above stipulated timeline of four months is strictly adhered to.

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The appeal is partly allowed.

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Order Date :- 5.12.2022 Pravin

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Digitally signed by PRAVIN VERMA Date: 2022.12.06 15:11:47 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

Ram Singh Pal and Anr. v. Raghvendra Pal and 2 Others

Case brief

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Ram Singh Pal and Anr. v. Raghvendra Pal and 2 Others

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