decision in the Sunil Kumar case (supra), it can be seen that the question considered therein was whether the negligence on the part of the deceased or claimant could be raised in a petition under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, as a ground to defeat the said claim. However, the aforesaid question does not arise in this case as the issue here pertains to the maintainability of the claim petition itself since the claim petition is submitted by the legal heirs of the deceased in an accident which occurred due to the negligence on the part of the deceased himself, where there was no involvement of any other vehicle. Therefore, the impact of such a claim would be that the compensation is being claimed from the person responsible for paying the compensation, as no other tortfeasor is involved in this case. In other words, the person claiming the compensation or the person on whose behalf compensation is claimed and the person who is responsible for paying the compensation are the same, and thus, in such a claim petition, the compensation is being claimed by the victim or by his legal heirs, from the victim himself, which is not permissible. The said question was specifically considered by the Honourable Supreme Court in Ningamma’s case (supra) and decided against the claimants.
