1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR :JUDGMENT: S.B. CIVIL MISC. APPEAL NO.4/2000 The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd., New Delhi vs. Smt. Mohni Devi & Ors. Date of Judgment ::
25. h July, 2013 PRESENT HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN BHANSALI Mr. U.C.S. Singhvi, for the appellant. Mr. Kailash Trivedi, for respondent Nos.1 to 6. ---- BY THE COURT: This appeal is directed against the award dated 05.08.1999 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Pali, ('the Tribunal'), whereby, the claimants have been awarded a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- alongwith interest @ 12% per annum for the death of one Bhanwar Lal. The facts in brief are that one Bhanwar Lal was walking on the road from Pali to Sumerpur at around 08:00 PM on 23.02.1995 when the offending Tanker bearing not TN23-Z-5509 being driven rashly and negligently by M. Radhwan struck him from behind, which resulted in death of said Bhanwar Lal; the claimants being wife and children of the deceased Bhanwar Lal claimed compensation of Rs.25,00,000/-; respondent Nos.1 and 2 driver and owner of the vehicle remained ex parte; the appellant Insurance Company filed its reply and disputed its liability. It was, inter alia, submitted that the driver of the offending tanker was not in possession of valid and effective driving licence and, as such, the appellant Insurance Company 2 was not liable for payment of compensation. The Tribunal, after the evidence was led by the claimants only, came to the conclusion that the accident occurred on account of rash and negligent driving by the driver of the tanker and that the claimants were entitled to compensation to the tune of Rs.5,00,000/-. While dealing with the issue relating to liability of the appellant Insurance Company, the Tribunal while relying on the driving licence Exhibit-14 and the fact that no evidence was led by the appellant Insurance Company held the appellant Insurance Company liable for payment of compensation. It is submitted by learned counsel for the appellant that the judgment and award passed by the Tribunal, whereby, the appellant Insurance Company has been held liable for payment of compensation is ex facie illegal and against settled position of law and, as such, the same deserves to be quashed and set aside. It is submitted that the vehicle involved in the accident was a heavy transport vehicle being tanker and driver was in possession of licence for driving light motor vehicle and, as such, he was not in possession of valid and effective driving licence and there being violation of policy conditions the appellant Insurance Company could not have been held liable for payment of compensation. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent- claimants submitted that the appellant Insurance Company has failed to lead any evidence whatsoever and, therefore, the judgment and award passed by the Tribunal is just and proper. It was further submitted that the deceased being a third party, the appellant Insurance Company cannot shirk its liability for 3 payment of compensation. I have considered the rival submissions made at the Bar. It is not in dispute that the vehicle involved in the accident was a heavy transport vehicle i.e. tanker; the driver of the vehicle was possessing licence to drive light motor vehicle only, which is evident from Exhibit-14 and, as such, in view of provisions of Section 3 read with Section 10 of the Act, it cannot be said that the driver was in possession of a valid driving licence; consequently, there was violation of policy conditions and the appellant Insurance Company, therefore, cannot be held liable for payment of compensation. However, it is noticed that though this Court granted interim order on 15.02.2002, the said order was vacated on 25.03.2004 and the amount of award has already been paid to the claimants. In view of the above fact situation, the award passed by the Tribunal is modified to the extent that the appellant Insurance Company is not liable for payment of compensation to the claimants, however, as the said amount already stand paid, it would be open for the appellant Insurance Company to recover the said amount from respondent No.8 owner of the vehicle by filing execution petition before the Tribunal alongwith interest @ 6% per annum from the date the amount was paid by the appellant Insurance Company. With the above modification, this appeal stands disposed of. (ARUN BHANSALI), J.
A.K.Chouhan/- 12