Jharkhand High Court
Kiran Kaur Wife Of Manjeet Singh ... vs Jharna Mukherjee @ Choudhari on 2 August, 2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
M.A. No.314 of 2016
----
Kiran Kaur wife of Manjeet Singh Bagga, resident of Station Road Giridih, P.O.
and P.S. Giridih Town, District Giridih.
... Appellant
-versus-
1. Jharna Mukherjee @ Choudhari, wife of Santosh Kumar Choudhari
2. Suman Choudhari son of Late Santosh Kumar Choudhari
Both R/o Court Road, Behind SBI Main Branch, At, P.O. & P.S. Jamtara Town,
Dist. Jamtara.
3. Branch Manager, New India Insurance Company, Giridih Branch, P.O. &
P.S. Giridih Town, District Giridih.
4. Binod Ram son of Shri Baldeo Ram, resident of Ahilyapur, P.O. & P.S.
Giridih Town, Dist. Giridih
... Respondents
----
WITH
M.A. No.454 of 2016
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Branch Manager, New India Insurance Company Ltd. (New India Assurance
Co. Ltd.), Giridih Branch, Samanta Complex 1st Floor, Court Road, P.O. and
P.S. Giridih, District Giridih 815301.
... Appellant
-versus-
1. Jharna Mukherji @ Choudhari wife of Late Santosh Kumar Choudhari
2. Suman Choudhari son of Late Santosh Kumar Choudhari
Both resident of Bagdahari, P.O. Kundahit, P.S. Kundahit (Bagdahari), District
Jamtara at present residing at Premdham Court Road, Behind S.B.I. Main
Branch, Jamtara, P.O., P.S. and District Jamtara.
3. Kiran Kaur Wife of Manjeet Singh Bagga (owner of Bus No. JH 11D 0222)
resident of Station Road, Giridih, P.O., P.S. and District Giridih.
4. Binod Ram Son of Baldeo Ram (Driver of Bus No.JH 11D 0222) resident of
Ahilyapur, Giridih, P.O. P.S. and District Giridih.
... Respondents
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CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANANDA SEN
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For the Appellants : Mr. Mitul Kumar, Advocate
[in M.A. No.314 of 2016]
Mr. Alok Lal, Advocate
[in M.A. No.454 of 2016]
For the Respondents : Mr. Alok Lal, Advocate
[in M.A. No.314 of 2016]
Mr. Mitul Kumar, Advocate
Mr. Nityanand Prasad Choudhary, Adv.
[in M.A. No.454 of 2016]
----
11/ 02.08.2022 Issue involved in these two cases is whether the offending
vehicle, which is a bus having sitting capacity of 32 passengers bearing
registration No. JH 11D 0222 is a heavy motor vehicle or light motor vehicle.
2. Tribunal, at paragraph 10 of the judgment, while deciding issue
No.4, has held that the driver of the vehicle did not have a batch endorsed in
the driving licence that he was permitted to drive heavy vehicles. Tribunal held
that it is not clear as to whether he was eligible to drive a heavy motor vehicle
or light motor vehicle. Tribunal thus concluded that the Driver had no driving
licence to drive heavy motor vehicle like bus or mini bus.
3. Driving licence of the driver is on record, which suggests that he is
permitted to drive a transport vehicle in class LMV. The registration certificate
of the bus is not on record. Thus, it is not possible to arrive at a conclusion
whether the offending 32 seater bus is a "heavy", "medium" or "light" motor
vehicle. There is no evidence to that effect.
4. There being no evidence on the aforesaid issue, it is not possible
for this Court to decide whether the 32 seater bus was actually a light,
medium or a heavy motor vehicle. Only after ascertaining the status of the
said bus, this Court can appreciate the argument of the learned counsel, who
submitted that if a person is authorized to drive a light motor vehicle in
passenger category, he is also eligible to drive the aforesaid bus, which is in
fact a light motor vehicle.
5. Considering the aforesaid submissions, the issue to determine the
status of the bus is of utmost importance. I, thus, invoke the provision of Order
XLI Rule 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure and frame the following issue:-
Whether the offending vehicle bearing registration
No. JH 11D 0222 is Light Motor Vehicle, Medium
Motor Vehicle, or a Heavy Motor Vehicle?
6. I further refer the matter to the Tribunal to decide the aforesaid
issue within four months, after taking additional evidence. The Tribunal,
thereafter, will return the evidence to this Court together with its findings and
the reasons. Since the parties have appeared, they will cooperate in deciding
the aforesaid issue by leading fresh evidence, if required. If either of the
parties does not cooperate, the Tribunal will record its findings exparte and will
send the same to this Court. It is expected that the Tribunal will complete the
process within four months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
7. List both these cases, before an appropriate Bench, after the
Tribunal returns the findings on the aforesaid issue.
(Ananda Sen, J.)
Kumar/Cp-02
