Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
E.S. Venkataramiah and K.N. Singh

ORDER

1. The petitioner was the owner of a bus bearing No. KLD- 9327 which was being run as a stage carriage. On 24.7.1978 while the said bus was carrying passengers it met with an accident and Saheeda, who was one of the passengers in the bus, died as a consequence of the said accident. The accident took place, according to the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, due to the negligence on the part of the driver of the vehicle who had been employed by the petitioner. The Tribunal found that the compensation payable by the petitioner to the legal representatives of Saheeda was Rs. 56,800. It, however, held that the liability of the insurer to indemnify the petitioner was limited to Rs. 5,000 as the policy specifically limited the insurer's liability to what had been provided by Section 95(2)(b)(ii)(2) and (4) of Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). Aggrieved by the decision of the Tribunal the petitioner filed an appeal before the High Court of Kerala. The said appeal was dismissed. This petition is filed under Article 136 of the Constitution for special leave to appeal against the judgment of the High Court.

2. The contention of the petitioner before this Court is that the insurer was liable to indemnify the petitioner up to a limit of Rs. 75,000 under Section 95(2)(b)(ii)(2) of the Act and that the further limit mentioned in Section 95(2)(b)(ii)(4) of the Act was inapplicable to the case of the petitioner. The relevant part of Section 95 of the Act during the relevant time read as follows:

95(2). Subject to the proviso to Sub-section (1), a policy of insurance shall cover any liability incurred in respect of any one accident up to the following limits, namely-

(a) where the vehicle is a goods vehicle, a limit of fifty thousand rupees in all, including the liabilities, if any, arising under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (8 of 1923), in respect of the death of, or bodily injury to, employees (other than the driver), not exceeding six in number, being carried in the vehicle;

(b) where the vehicle is a vehicle in which passengers are carried for hire or reward or by reason of or in pursuance of a contract of employment,-

(i) in respect of persons other than passengers carried for hire or reward, a limit of fifty thousand rupees in all;

(ii) in respect of passengers,-

(1) a limit of fifty thousand rupees in all where the vehicle is registered to carry not more than thirty passengers;

(2) a limit of seventy-five thousand rupees in all where the vehicle is registered to carry more than thirty but not more than sixty passengers;

(3) a limit of one lakh rupees in all where the vehicle is registered to carry more than sixty passengers; and

(4) subject to the limits aforesaid, ten thousand rupees for each individual pa........