driven by its driver i.e. Vinod Kumar in a rash and negligent manner due to which he got injured and his brother Arwan Kumar and his wife Saroj Puri died on spot. The learned Tribunal has disbelieved the statement of the claimant-Ajay Kumar and rightly so because the driver of another vehicle bearing registration No. HP38 3491 namely, Vinod Kumar who happened to be the respondent No. 1 in the claim petition appeared as his own witness and stated that on 18.12.1999 he was driving truck bearing No. HP38 3491, which had met with an accident near Chhan Rorian due to rash and negligent driving of vehicle No. PB06 3459 by its driver when the said truck was coming from Jammu side. It was stated by him that during investigation it was found that the accident took place due to rash and negligence by Arvan Kumar, the driver of Truck bearing No. PB06 2359, who was the brother of claimant Ajay Kumar and son of another claimant Om Parkash. He further stated that the matter was re-investigated by the Police and again it was found that the Arvan Kumar was negligent while driving the vehicle which resulted into an accident. He also stated that father-Om Parkash one of the claimants had filed a complaint against him in the court at Hiranagar, wherein he was acquitted. Sat Pal Sharma, Investigating Officer in his deposition stated that as per his investigation, driver of Truck bearing No. HP38-3491 was not found responsible for accident and driver of Truck No. PB06-2359 drove the vehicle negligently. Both these witnesses were relied upon by the learned Tribunal to return a finding that the accident took place due to rash and negligent driving of deceased Arvan Kumar.
