The High Court · 2025

in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to stay all further proceedings including execution of the Order and Degree dated 1O-11-2022 passed in MVOP No.570 of 2015 on the file of the Honble Court of the Principal District Judge, Karimnagar, pending drsposal of this appeal. Counsel for the Appellant(s): SRl. N CHANDRA SEKHAR Counsel for the Respondents: A.V.K.S. PRASAD The Court delivered the following: JUDGMENT MOTOR ACCIDENT CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL NO: 1332 OF 2023 Appeal filed under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, praying that the High court may be pleased to aggrieved by the Order/Award dt. 10-11-2021 passed in O.P,No.570 of 2015 On the file of the MACT-cum-Prl. Dist. Judge, Karimnagar. Between:

1. lvlutyala Adi Reddy, S/o. Malla Reddy, Age. 50 years, Occ. Agriculture (Died), 2. Mutyala Padma, Wo. Mutyala Adi Reddy, aged 42 yrs., Occ. House Wife, 3. Mutyala Muneender @ Raju, S/o. Adi Reddy, Age. 22 yeas, Occ. Student. All are natives of Arpapalli Village, Sarangapur Mandal, Karimnagar District, presently residing at H.No,5-5-14, Kapuwada, Karimnagar City, Telangana. AND ...APPELLANTS/PETITIONERS '1 . Nimma Ganga Narsaiah, Sio. Bhumaiah, Aged Major, Occ. Driver of offending TSRTC Bus bearing No.AP-1 1-2-5543 of Korutla Depot, Korutla, Karimnagar District, Telangna State, C/o. Depot Manager, Korutla Depot.

2. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, represented by its Managing Director, Bus Bhavan, Musheerabad, Hyderabad. ..,RESPONDENTS Counsel fortheAppellant(s) : SRl. AVKS PRASAD Counsel for the Respondents: SRI N CHANDRA SEKHAR The Court made the following: ORDER - ra- a. 1 \ ; I THT HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE REITUKI. TARA M.A.C.M.A.Nos.794 and 1332 of 20 23 COMM ON JUDGMENT: Heard Sri N Chardra Sekhar, learned standi lg counsel for the appellant in M.A.C.M.A.No.794 of 2023 and Sri r 'V'K'S'Prasad' learned counsel lor the appellalts in M'A C'M'A'No 1332 of 2023 ' Perused the entire record.

2. Since both the above appeals are arising ou: of the award passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims ' 'ribunal-cum- Principal District Judge, Karimnagar (for short 'tht Tribunal') in M.V.O.P.No.57Oof2Ol5,dated10.1l2022,theywer:takenupfor hearing analogouslv artd are being disposed of b1' this common judgment.

3. The M.A.C.M.A.No.794 of 2023 is f led by the appellalt/respondent No.2/TSRTC and M'A'CM t' No'1332 of 2023 is frled by the appellants/petitioners/claimartts '

4. For the sate of convenience, the parties ar: referred to as they are arrayed in M.V.O.P.No.570 of 2015'

5. The claimants filed petition under Sectior 166(1) O of M.V.Act, seeking compensation of Rs'30,OO,OOO/ on account of -r I 2 death of one MuQrala Venkat Reddy in a road tra_fhc accident. On

18.01.2015 at about 8.OO am, the deceased Mutyala Venkat Reddy proceeded from his house at Arpapalli on a motorcycle bearing No.AP-10-F-6525 to Raika-l Village to visit his aunt Bodigem l,axmi. At 10.00 am, he left Rarka-l Village to meet his uncle at Sirikonda Village. When the deceased reached outskirts of Raikal and was passing from Telalgana Chowk, at 10.15 am, the driver of TSRTC bus bearing No.AP-11-Z 5543 came in rash and negligent marlner in opposite direction to wrong side of the road and hit the deceased causing severe injuries which resulted in his death on the spot. The police, Raika-l registered a case in Crime No. 1O of 2O 15 against respondent No.1 who was driving the offending bus for the offence under Section 304-A of IPC.

6. The claimants adduced oral and documentary evidence in the form of witnesses PWs 1 to 4 and Exs.Al to A14. The respondent No.2/TSRTC got examined RW1 but did not mark any documents.

7. Upon examining the oral and documentary evidence, the Tribunal fixed liability at 50% each on the deceased and the driver of the RTC bus and thereby, awarded compensation of Rs.19,25,000/- with interest at 7.Sok per annum. I 3 /,

8. Aggrieved b1. ttre said award, the claimant; hled MACMA No.1332 of 2023 challenging imposition of liabilitl ;l 50% on the deceased and deduction of the compensation a,r arded to said extent. Further, the claimants sought compensatic r towards filial consortium and parental consortium. Lastly, the r:i : mants alleged that Ex.A9/ Salary certihcate showing income of tL e deceased at Rs.25,OO0/- was not taken into consideration thougi the same was not challenged

9. The respondent No.2/TSRTC challenged thr arvard filing MACMA No.794 of 2023 alleging that there is no ne 1 ligence on the part of the driver of the bus and therefore, impc sition of 50% liability on TSRTC is erroneous. In that context, - re respondent No.2 referred to paragraph 17 of the award passed r r 1fi9 Tribunal wherein it is held that there is no negligence on Le part of the driver as per the version of police. Lastly, responder t No.2 alleged that the interest grarrted at 7.5%o per urnnum is excess ive.

10. The first issue to be addressed is the liability o the deceased and the liability of the RTC driver which is fixed at 5t) h each by the Tribunal. Both the rival parties are aggrieved by the ;aid finding of the Tribunal. In that context, the important doc r ments to be perused are the FIR/Ex.A1 and the Final ReportlE',..A12 filed by I I I I I I i 4 the police. As per FIR and the complaint given by the father of the deceased, when the motorcycle of the deceased reached outskirts of Rarkal, said motorcycle was struck by RTC bus bearing No.AP-11- 2-5543 which was driven in rash and negligent manner. After completing investigation, the police filed frnal report on the basis of version presented by the eye witnesses stating that at about 1O.15 am, when the motorcycle reached outskirts of Raikal, at that time, the deceased was coming in opposite direction on his Yamaha RX 100 motorcycle bearing No.AP-iO-F-6525 carrying a phone in his hand, even after blowing horn by the bus driver, the deceased did not observe the bus and dashed the right side of the bus, due to which, the deceased died on the spot due to sever6 injuries. 1 l. . Further, as per Final report/Ex.A12, there is no negligence on the part of the driver of the bus and the action is abated due to the death o[ the deceased in the accident i.e. charge sheet is not filed against the TSRTC driver. As per version presented by the police, it is the deceased who was riding the vehicle while speaking over cell phone ald therefore, the accident took place in spite of the precautions taken by the driver of TSRTC bus. On this aspect, the counsel for the claimants would contend that- speaking over cell phone is different from holding a cell phone. This Court would {iffer with the contention of the counsel for the claimants for the I i \ \ 5 / simple reason that holding a cell phone in one hanci would compel the rider to drive a motorcycle with one hand and rrespective of whether he was speakrng or not controlling the motct:ycle with one hand would be riska and life threatening. Therefore, lixing liability at SOok is less when compared to the f,rnding giveli by the police a-fter conducting investigation wherein it is held that there is absolutely no fault on the pa-rt of the driver of TSRT( rus' However, in view of the fact that there are witnesses examir ed before the Tribunal who deposed that the accident occurred dr ' to negligence of the driver of RTC bus ald since there are caten? of judgments which maldate that the ora-l evidence of the witnes ;es before the Tribunal be taken into consideration as against the c cntents of the police record, this Court is inclined to fix the liabilit" as decided by the Tri6unal at 5O% each.

12. Further, a perusal of the record shows that tk r Tribuna-l has taken the income of the deceased as Rs.25,OOO/ - I r the basis of Ex.A9 salary certihcate and on the basis of the or rl evidence of PW4. Though there is ambiguity about the avr :ation of the deceased on account of the contents of the complair t given by the father of the deceased while lodging complaint with tt e police about the accident, in view of the education of the deceas :d who was a B.Tech graduate and was preparing for higher studit'r , this Court is 6 not inclined to interfere with the notional income taken by the Tribunal. The Tribunal has awarded Rs.70,000/- towards ioss of consortium to petitioner No.1, ioss of estate and funeral expenses. The same is appropriate and need not be interfered with. This Court is inclined to grant only an amount of Rs.40,0OO/- towards irlial consortium to claimant No.2 being the mother of deceased and Rs.40,OOO/- to claimant No.3 being the brother.

13. As per judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Rajesh and others v. Rajbir Singh and othersr, the interest of 7.5o/o on the compensation is held to be just and reasonabie, therefore, said interest granted by the Tribunal cannot be interfered with.

14. In the result, the MACMA No.794 of 2023 filed by the TSRTC is dismissed and MACMA No.1332 of 2023 is allowed in part enhancing the compensation amount awarded by the Tribunal from Rs. 1 9,25,000 / - to Rs.2O,O5,00O /- as hereunder: a) The compensation amount shall carry interest at 7.5%o p.a. from the date of petition till the date of realization, b) The respondent Nos. 1 and 2 shall deposit the amor-rnt within a period of (8) weeks from the date of receipt of copy of judgment. On such deposit, the appellants/ claimants are entitled to withdraw the entire amount in '2013 acl rco3 = 2013 (4)ALT 3s i ( t 1 proportion to their shares awa'led by Tribunal, without furnishing the securifi' Miscellaneous Petitions, if any, pending in tl ; appeal, shal1 stand closed. There shall be no order as to costs //TRUE COPY// SD/. /I.JAWAHAR REDDY ASS STANT REGISTRAR \ s\cr,o* OFFICER To,

1. The Chairman, MACT-cum-Principal District Judge, Ka.i nnagar 2. One CC to SRl. N CHANDRA SEKHAR Advocate [OP - ]l 3. One CC to SRI A V K S. PRASAD, Advocate [OPUC] 4. Two CD Copies PSL I HIGH COURT DATED:0410712025 !r t;.1 t O() .<. J B JAN 202[ ). 7: COMMON JUDGMENT MACMA.No.794 & 1332 ot 2023 '.S t. '.+ - DISMISSING THE MACMA No.794 OR 2023 PARTLY ALLOWING THE MACMA.No.1332 OF 20,3 : . l I I , I I I b b lut' \ IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD FRIDAY, THE FOURTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE RENUKA YARA MOTOR ACCIDENT CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL N Os:794 &1332OF2023 MAC MA.No.794 OF 2023: Between: TelanganaStateRoadTransportCorporation,,RepresentedbyitsManaging Direct-or, Bus Bhavan, Mushe6rabad, Hyderabad ...APPELLANT/RESPONDENT No.2 AND

5. Mutyala Adi Reddy,, S/o. Malla Reddy, aged 50 years, Occ' Agriculture (Died),

6. Mutyala Padma, Housewife, aged 42 years, occ: House wife, 7. Mutyala muneender raiu, aged 22yea$, Occ: student,' AllareArpapallivillage,sarangapurmandal'karimnagardistrictpresently ,residing dt ti no S 5 14 kapuwada karimnagar city Telangana ResPondents/Petitioners

8. Nimma ganga narsaiah, major driver of offending TSRTCbus bearing no - iillzS"S4g-of korutla depoi korutla karimnagar district telangana state co depot manager korutla dePot.. (R4 is not necessary PartY) RESPONDENT/ResPondent No.1 AppealfiledunderSectionlT3ofMotorVehiclesAct,aggrievedbythe order and Decree dated 10-11-2022 passed in MVOP No.570 of 2015 on the file of the Hon,ble court of the Principal District Judge, Karimnagar, allowing the petition in part and granting compensation of Rs.19,25,000/- with proportionate costs and interest or T.Spercent per annum. The above named Appellant humbly begs to present this Memorandum of Civil Miscellaneous Appeal' /// MOTOR ACCIDENT CIV IL MISCELLANEOU S APPEAL NO: 1332 OF 2023 Between:

4. Mutyala Adi Reddy, S/o. Malla Reddy, Age. 50 years, t) :c. Agriculture (Died), 5. Mutyala Padma, Wo. Mutyala Adi Reddy, aged 42 yrs Occ House Wife, 6. Mutyala Muneender @ Raju, S/o. Adi Reddy, Age. 22't :ars, Occ. Student. All are natives of Arpapalli Village, Sarangapur Manoe , Karimnagar District, presently residing at H.No.5-5-14, Kapuwada, Karimnag ar City, Telangana. AND ...APPEL 1 ANTS/PETITIONERS a 4 Nimma Ganga Narsaiah, S/o. Bhumaiah, Aged Major, rl :c. Driver of ofiending TSRTC Bus bearing No.AP-1 1-2-5543 of Korutla Depot Korutla, Karimnagar District, Telangna State, C/o. Depot Manager, Korutla [) rpot Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, represenr :d by its Managing Director, Bus Bhavan, Musheerabad, Hyderabad. ...RESPONDENTS Appeal filed under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act craying that the High court may be pleased to aggrieved by the Order/Award dt.1 )-11-2021 passed in O.P.No.570 of 2015. On the file of the MACT-cum-Prl. Dist udge, Karimnagar. ORDER: These appeals coming on for hearing, upon p( rusing the grounds of appealr the Judgment and Decree of the Lower Court and r1e Court of the First lnstance and the material papers in the O.Ps. and upon hearirrr the arguments of Sri N. Chandra Sekhar, Advocate for the appellant in MACMA.n( .794 of 2023 and for Respondents in MACMA.No 1332 of 2023 and of Sri A.V.K.S prasad, Advocate for the Respondents in MACMA,No.794 ol 2023 and for Appellart ; in irIACMA.No.1332 of 2023 That this Court doth Order and Decree as follows: 'l . That this Court dismissed the appeal No.794 of 2023 arr confirmed the Order and Decree ofthe Lower Court.

2. That this Court partly allowing the appeal No.1332 of 20 t3 enhanced the compensation from Rs.19,25,0001 to Rs.20,05,000/- .

3. That the enhanced compensation amount shall carry ints .est atT.Syo p.a. from the date of petition till date of realization.

4. That the Respondents Nos.1 & 2 shall deposit the amour :within a period of (8) weeks from the date of receipt of copy of judgment. -.-eqg.=.,-"1.--...

5. That on such deposit, the appellants/claimants are entitled to withdraw the entire amount in proportion to their shares awarded by the Tribunal, without furnishing the security.

6. Save as aforesaid, the decree of the lower court is confirmed in all other respects.

7. That there shall be no order as to costs SD/- M.JAWAHAR REDDY ASSISTANT REGIST crtoN oFFlc-R To

1. The Chairman, MACT-cum-Principal District Judge, Karimnagar

2. Two CD Copies. PSL HIGH COURT DATED:0410712025 COMMON DECREE MACMA.No.794 & 1332 ot 2023 DISMISSING THE MACMA No.794 OF 2023 PARTLY ALLOWING THE MACMA.No.I332 OF 202 3 @fa 6 laA