onto the kacha portion of the road and hit Sm t . Makri Devi, as a result of wh i ch she sustained g r ievous injuries and succumbed to her injuries en route to the Civil Hospital, Panipat. FIR No.188 dated 11.04.199 8 under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC was registered at Police Station Chandni Bagh, Panipat, agai n st respondent No . 1-driver of the offending vehi c le. The claimants, being the le g al representatives of the deceased, filed a claim p etition seeking compensation f or her untimely d eath. The learned Tribunal, a f ter appreciating the evidence on record, assesse d her monthly income at ₹200 0 /-, applied a multiplier of 10 a nd after deducting one-third towards personal exp e nses, awarded total compensat i on of ₹1,70,000/- , inclusive of ₹10,000/- towa r ds funeral expenses, along with interest @ 9% p er annum from the date of fili n g of the petition till its realisati o n, holding the res p ondents before it jointly and se v erally liable. 3. T h e learned counsel for the a p pellant–owner contends that t he learned Tribun a l erred in granting recovery ri g hts to the insurer and in hold i ng that the accide n t occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of driver of t he offending vehi c le. It is further argued that the compensation of ₹1,70,000/- with interest @9% p er annum is excessive, as the d eceased being an elderly lady of more than 55 y ears, was not substantially c o ntributing to the household. It is urged that the f inding regarding invalidity of t h e driving licence is perverse, si n ce the driver poss e ssed a valid and effective LMV licence at the time of the accident. In terms of Se c tion 2(21) of the Motor Vehicl e s Act, 1988, a light motor vehi c le includes trans p ort vehicle, unladen weight o f which does not exceed 7500 kilograms, and hence the insurer failed to pro v e any breach of policy. In supp o rt of his contenti o n, he relied upon the judgmen t passed by Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble S u preme Court in M/s Bajaj Alliance General Insurance Co. Ltd.
