1 FA 2066.2010 FARAD CONTINUATION SHEET NO. IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD FIRST APPEAL NO.2066 OF 2010 Office Notes,Office Memoranda of Coram,appearances, Court's orders or directions and Registrar's orders Court's or Judge's orders Mr.D.S.Bagul, Advocate for the appellant. Mr.Gaurav Deshpande, Advocate holding for Mr. C.R. Deshpande, Advocate for Resp.No. 1 . .......................... CORAM : S.V. GANGAPURWALA, J. DATE : 02/05/2011 PER COURT : 1. Heard learned counsel for the appellant and the learned counsel for the respondents. 2. The appellant aggrieved by the Award passed by the Reference Court, thereby awarding compensation of Rs. 22,500/- to the claimants as against the present appellant, has filed the present Appeal. 3. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that the driver of the appellant’s vehicle was not rash and negligent. The accident was caused because of the rash and negligent act of the driver of the offending truck. He drove the truck 2 FA 2066.2010 ignoring the condition of the road and traffic rules and dashed the S.T. Bus. According to the learned counsel, the Tribunal could not have come to the conclusion that the liability of the appellant is to the extent of 50 %. 4. The learned counsel for the respondents supports the Award passed by the Reference Court. 5. I have heard the learned counsel of the respective parties and have gone through the record by virtue of the paper book which is made available by the learned counsel for the claimants. 6. The fact that there was head on collision between the truck and bus is not disputed. When it is a case of head on collision, then in such circumstances, the presumption would be that the drivers of both the vehicles were negligent. The Tribunal has taken into consideration this aspect of the matter, so also, the attending circumstances also shows that the driver of both the vehicles were negligent and negligence can be attributed to both of them. The amount awarded is also just and reasonable. 7. In light of the above, the Award passed by the Tribunal does not suffer from any infirmity. 3 FA 2066.2010 The Appeal as such is dismissed however with no order as to costs. 8. In view of the dismissal of the Appeal, the claimants will be entitled for the withdrawal of the amount deposited. [ S.V. GANGAPURWALA,J. ] KNP/FA 2066.2010