In Brief
A motorcycle rider, Sitaram, collided with a state bus on 28 October 2011, resulting in his death and severe injuries to the pillion rider. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded compensation to his family after finding the bus driver negligent. The High Court reversed this, citing the failure to examine the pillion rider as a witness and the motorcycle's apparent position on the wrong side based on the site map. The Supreme Court restored the Tribunal's award, holding that in motor accident claims, the standard is preponderance of probability—not criminal proof. The FIR, charge-sheet, and eyewitness testimony adequately established the bus driver's negligence despite the absence of the pillion rider's testimony and the witness not being listed in police records. Technical omissions cannot defeat a claim when core facts remain unshaken.
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