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TMI Blog1988 (1) TMI 357X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... situate at Pimpri-Pune, hereinafter referred to as TELCO . He bad gone to the factory on his scooter. There he met one Milsha Rane and after finishing their work, both of them left the factory-building with, the deceased driving the scooter and Rane on its pillion seat. They moved from Block Nos. 'B' and 'E' to reach the main gate of the factory compound. A truck belonging to appellant No. 2 and driven by appellant No. 1 and which was going ahead of the deceased's scooter took a sudden 'B' turn with the result that the deceased, who was riding the scooter on the right side of the truck was knocked down, and suffered injuries due to the impact. He was immediately removed to the dispensary of the factory which was also in the factory compound. However, before any medical help could be given, he succumbed to his injuries. The claimants, i.e. respondents 2 and 3, thereafter filed the present application for compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). The claim was resisted by the 1st respondent Insurance Company, among other things, on the ground that the place where the accident took place being within th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to the various blocks from the main gate of the factory, one is required to travel a distance of about 1 1/2 to 2 Kms. by the main road or other roads. Permission is required for going to the various blocks. Various modes of conveyance, mainly cars, autorickshaws, scooters, mopeds and other vehicles are used for reaching the various units. Daily about 500 to 600 parties visit the factory. About 100 vehicles ply of the transport contractors and other units of our factory ply for arranging transport of the employees of the factory per shift. There are 4 shifts in our factory. Outside visitors generally visit the general shift that is from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p-m. 4. The witness has further admitted that there are about 230 personnel belonging to the Security Department on duty at the main entrance gate. The establishment is enclosed by compound walls and only a casual visitor is given a gate pass at the entrance. The regular visitors have a regular pass for a fixed period endorsed by the Security Department. The Security Department can refuse an entry at the main entrance in the absence of proper authority and the Department is entitled to take action against a person who has an un ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... person to be carried on its running board or otherwise than within its body, allowing any person to stand or sit or anything to be placed in such manner or position as to hamper the driver in his control of the vehicle, carrying more than one million rider and the duty to stop the vehicle and remain stationery when required by the Police Officer or when the vehicle is involved in the accident, the duty to give information when the driver or the conductor of the vehicle is charged of any offence under the Act, the duty imposed on the driver of the vehicle or the person in charge of it to take all reasonable stops to secure medical attendance for the injured, etc., and to give information to the police, do not require that the vehicle on such occasions should have been plied at public places. These restrictions are attached to the vehicle itself whether it is used in the public place or not. 7. We also notice from Chapter VIIA that the no fault liability on account of the accident arises out of the use of the motor vehicle in any place and not necessarily in public place. What is more, Chapter VIII which requires compulsory insurance of motor vehicles against third party risk and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ce as with its user. Stage carriage is defined in Sub-clause (29) of Section 2 and it means a motor vehicle which is used to carry or adapted to carry more than six persons excluding the driver and which carries passengers: for hire or reward at separate fares paid by or for individual passengers, either for the whole journey or for stages of the journey. In short, it means a public passenger-carrier. In other wards, by virtue of the last part of the definition, the expression would include any place, including private, where public passenger-carrier picks up or sets down passengers. 10. The definition of public place under the Act is, therefore, wide enough to include any place which members of public use and to which they have a right of access. The right of access may be permissive, limited, restricted or regulated by oral or written permission, by tickets, passes or badges or on payment of fee. The use may be restricted generally or to particular purpose or purposes. What is necessary is that the place must be accessible to the members of public and be available for their use, enjoyment, avocation or other purposes. 11. It is also necessary to bear in mind the distincti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... access, for whatever reasons, whether as of right or controlled in any manner whatsoever, would be covered by the definition of public place in Section 2(24) of the Act. To hold otherwise would frustrate the very object of the said Chapter and the Act. 13. Although dictionary meaning of the expression is hardly of any use to us, it will be instructive to refer to it. In Stroud's Judicial Dictionary, Fifth Edition, page 2094, 'public place' has been defined as follows: A public place is a place to which the public can and do have access; it doesn't matter whether they come at the invitation of the occupier or merely with his permission, or whether some payment or the performance of some formality is required be-lore access can be had.... This definition is taken from the decision in R v. Kane (1965) 1 All. E.R. 705 and is a reproduction of only a part of it given there. The other part reads as follows: But a place such as the club in the present case, would be a private place, if there was a real restriction of access to members and their guests and that any other member of the public who got in was in reality a trespasser. In this case what fell for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s was always a matter of the discretion of the authorities. The plant and factory area were further cordoned off from the township by a high boundary wall constructed all round the said area. The gates in the compound wall at different places were heavily guarded and entry through those Rates was strictly controlled by the men and officers of the company. Although there were roads inside the factory premises some of which were broader than the main roads in the town, those roads were meant only for the specific purposes of the factory and were certainly not public thoroughfares, and the members of the public as such did not have any right to use these roads for any purpose whatsoever. In view of these facts, the learned Judge held that the factory premises were not a public place. 16. In Rajammal v. Associated Transport Co. [1978] A.C.J. 44 a single Judge of the Madras High Court was called upon to decide whether the compound called Huzur Garden in a portion of which the Company -- Shardlow India Ltd, was situated and where the accident took place was a 'public place' under the Act. According to the learned Judge, the criterion laid down in the definition was whether the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ious flights. The Aerodrome-Building and the parking area are situate about one furlong away from the National Highway and both are connected by a link road. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation decided to introduce two stage carriage services from Cochin Aerodrome to Guruvayoor. These stage carriages were to start from the parking area of the Aerodrome. Since the bus services were cheap, it was bound to affect the taxi business and, therefore, the Taxi Drivers' Union filed a writ petition for restraining the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation from operating the services, The first contention of the Union was that the parking area and the link road were 'public places' within the meaning of the Act and, therefore, a permit to operate stage carriage services was necessary under Section 42 of the Act. The learned Judge, therefore, had to decide whether the parking area and the link road were public places. Evidence on record showed that both parking area and the link road were the property of the Government. The learned Judge held that the access to both was purely permissive, although the Civil Aviation Department or the Defence Department were obliged to gra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lic place' within the meaning of the Act. The learned Judge held that the words other place occurring in the definition are significant in their connotation and should be given a wide import and interpretation. He further held that Public place is a place where the public can and do have access. Even user of a private place and access of public to it can be interpreted as a public place within the meaning of Section 2(24). Evidence there showed that trucks had access to the campus of the compound of the Printing Press and the accident itself had occurred due to a dash by the truck. The more fact that the compound or the campus of the Press is owned by an individual would not, according to the learned Judge, make it a 'private place'. The learned Judge also observed that it was not necessary that the place must be a public property. 23. In Elkine v. Cartlidge (1947) 1 All. E.R. 829 the case arose under the Road Traffic Act, 1938. The respondent there was charged for being in charge of a motor vehicle in a public place, while under the influence of drink. It was found that he had put his car in an enclosure at the rear of an inn at the side of which an open gatew ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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