IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.1226 of 1991 (O&M) Date of decision:20.01.2011 Ashok Kumar and another ....Appellants versus Dr. (Miss) Sheela Devi ....Respondent CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: Mr.Amit Kohar, Advocate, for Mr.Sumeet Mahajan, Senior Advocate, for the appellants. None for the respondent. ---- 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest ? ---- K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. The appeal is by the owner/driver of the tempo which was said to have been involved in the accident. The case was one of denial of the accident at the trial. In the cross-examination of PW2, who was an eye-witness and a fellow traveller with the claimant, it was suggested through the eye-witness that the tempo in which the claimant was travelling dashed against a tree in an attempt of the driver to prevent hitting a car which was coming on the opposite direction. Contrary to this suggestion, the driver of the tempo made an improvement in the version in the course of trial to say that the claimant was already standing on the road having suffered some injury and the tempo stopped to pick FAO No.1226 of 1991 (O&M) - 2 - her and dropped her at the hospital. This, the Tribunal found to be an improvement in version and a plea that had no foundation in pleadings. 2. The learned counsel for the appellants states that it was a rainy day and he was driving at a very moderate speed. Even the claimant was not in a position to say that the vehicle was driven rashly or negligently. This, according to him, is a circumstance to show that there was no negligence on the part of the driver or if there was an accident, it should only be taken to be an act of God. I reject both these contentions, for, a careful driver hitting against a tree is an oxymoron. The finding of negligence attributed to the appellants is upheld and the appeal by the appellants is dismissed. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 20.01.2011 sanjeev