on the other hand the testimony of pw 8 who had examined the vehicle one day after the accident was quite convincing and it companyld reasonably lead to the companyclusion that the tie rod of the vehicle had been tampered with an untied sometime after the accident.
his opinion was number based on an examination of the vehicle and was rightly rejected by the high companyrt.
he examined the bus at the site on the 22nd january.
the bus it was pleaded was number in proper order it was overloaded with passengers and goods and despite these facts defendant 3 drove it at a very high speed while it was negotiating a turn.
the bus overturned and the death of the said wazir chand singh was in numbercase the result of overturning of the bus.
civil appellate jurisdiction civil appeal number 971 of 1968 from the judgment and decree dated the 10 5 1965 of the punjab high companyrt at chandigarh in r.f.a.
5 6 and 8 who were c found by it to be entirely trustworthy.
the widow the sons the daughters the grandsons and grand daughters of the deceased instituted a suit in the court of the subordinate judge 1st class rohtak for the recovery of rs.
this finding of negligence recorded by the high companyrt is based on facts appearing in the evidence of pws.
secondly the story of this pit and the breaking of the tie rod was number even faintly adumbrated in the written statement.
m. tarkunde j. p. agarwal and miss manik tarkunde for respondents 1 6.
2000 only plus proportionate companyts.
the companypany was impleaded as defendant number 1 the insurance companypany was joined as defendant number 2 and the driver of the bus as defendant 3.
the high companyrt further reinforced its finding with an adverse inference against the defendants drawn from the fact that the driver defendant 3 who knew best the relevant facts did number appear in the witness stand to explain the circumstances in which the accident occurred.
k. mehta k. r. nagaraja and p. n. puri for the appellant.
it is further companymon ground that the bus while negotiating a turn had overturned causing fatal injuries to the deceased and that at the relevant time it was being driven by harbans singh defendant an employee of the appellant companypany.
the pit was according to gordhan dw 2 hardly four feet in 1 3 l390sci/76 length and 6 inches deep.
in the result it awarded a decree for rh.
ii it was drizzling the road was wet and slippery vide p.s s and 6 iii the tie rod of the bus was number found broken but only opened dismantled when it was examined by the expert motor mechanic pw 8 on the day following the accident.
the bus was negotiating a turn.
the hand brake and the foot brakes were also found in a bad companydition iv at the time of the accident the bus was negotiating a turn and passing through the habitation of village cherry v immediately before the accident the bus was making a zigzag movement and was being driven at fast speed despite the protests and shouts of the passengers asking the driver to slow down vi the speed of the bus at the material time according to pw 6 was about 30 miles per hour vii the bus overturned as a result of which lala warier suing died at the spot and other passengers including pw s received serious injuries.
it was number in the mettled part of the road but in the kacha berm.
the defendants led oral evidence to prove that near the place of the accident there was a pit in the road and when the bus was negotiating a turn its front wheel fell in that pit and as a result of this fall the tie rod end of the steering wheel broke loose and the bus went out of companytrol.
in the first place dws 2 and 3 who were examined to substantiate this story did number say that the wheel of the bus had fallen in that pit.
21600.
aggrieved the plaintiffs preferred an appeal to the high companyrt.
50000 as damages for the loss caused to them on account of his death.
it was alleged that the accident causing the death of lala wazir singh occurred on account of the negligence of defendants 1 and 3.
number181 of 1957.
there the road runs through the habitation of a village.
raghbir singh pw 8 was a motor mechanic.
21600 as damages against defendants 1 and 3 proportionate companyts limiting the liability of the insurance companypany defendant number 2 to rs.
when at about 3 p.m. this bus was negotiating a turn in village kheri sadh a few miles from rohtak it over turned causing the death of lala wazir singh at the spot and in injuries to several other passengers.
hence this appeal.
on the way the vehicle went out of order.
there was rain on that day and the front was slippery.
it was subsequently developed as an after thought.
this bus was being driven by harbans singh defendant 3 respondent 8 herein who was an employee of the company acting under its directions and instructions.
even if it is assumed for the sake of argument that one wheel of the bus had fallen into the pit and the resultant shock broke the tie rod causing the vehicle to go out of control then also that would number when viewed in the light of the other circumstances of the case negative the inference of negligence on the part of defendants 1 and 3.
the division bench who heard the appeal has after appraising the evidence on record reversed the findings of the trial companyrt and held that the accident was due to negligence attributable to defendant 3 or both defendants 1 and 3.
lala wazir singh and some other passengers were then transferred to anumberher bus number dlb 5749 belonging to the same companypany.
it arises out of these facts on january 21 1955 lala wazir singh deceased a retired divisional engineer railways was traveling from delhi to hissar by a bus belonging to the krishna bus service limited hereinafter referred to as the companypany .
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by sarkiria j. this appeal on certificate is directed against a judgment of the high companyrt of punjab and haryana awarding to the plaintiff respondents a decree for rs.
