New India Assurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Smt. Phoosi and ors. - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
motor vehicles act, 1988 - section 173--appeal--compensation--liability of insurance company--on the date of accident, driver of vehicle was not having a proper and effective driving licence--owner of vehicle has not come forward to explain that he was not having knowledge of such defect--vehicle was insured with appellant insurance company--held, appellant insurance company should pay the entire amount of compensation to claimants and they may recover it alongwith interest @ 6% p.a. till realisation of amount from the owner of the vehicle. [paras 13 and 14];appeal partly allowed. - manak mohta, j.1. this appeal has been filed by the insurance company against the judgment and award dt. 26.09.1995 passed by the learned judge, motor accident claims tribunal, balotra (in short 'the tribunal') in claim case no. 107/93 whereby the learned judge has allowed the claim petition and has awarded compensation of rs. 1,65,000/- with interst @ 12% per annum in favour of the claimants.2. briefly stated the facts of the case are that smt. phoosi wife and children of deceased-ganesha ram filed a claim petition before the learned tribunal under section 165 and 166 of m.v. act stating therein that on 31.08.1993 pratap ram, ganesha ram, kana ram and chhelu singh all residents of village dakha were going in two camal-carts to balotra for bringing 'chara' (animal food). in the night at about 8'o clock when they reached at 'ostara fanta'(in front of f.c.i. godown), a jonga jeep bearing regn.no.rj-04c-0007 which was alleged to be driven by nema ram (non-claimant no. 1) in a rash and negligent manner, came from behind and dashed with the camal carts, as a result of which, kana ram and chhail singh received injuries, ganesha ram became unconscious and both the camal carts broke and the camels too got injured in the accident. initially the injured were rushed to balotra hospital and later on since ganesha ram's condition was critical, he was referred to m.g. hospital, jodhpur where he succumbed to his injuries on 01.09.1994. the police after investigation of report, filed challan against nema ram for the offence under sections 279 and 337 i.p.c.3. as per claim petition, non-claimant no. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are the driver, owners and insurer respectively of the jeep jonga. as many as four claim petitions came to be filed before the learned tribunal arising from the same accident, which, in due course of time came to be decided vide common judgment and award dt. 26.09.1995. the claimants claimed a total compensation of rs. 10,30,000/- compensation on various heads for the untimely death of ganesha ram in the road accident.4. in reply, the non-claimants no. 1 denied the averments made in the claim petition and stated that at the time of accident, the offending jeep jonga was being driven by vehicle-owner sumermal (non-claimant no. 3). both the owners of jeep jonga-non-claimants no. 2 and 3 denied the averments made in the claim petition and stated that the amount claimed was on higher side and it was prayed that the claim petition may be dismissed.5. a reply was also submitted by non-claimant no. 4 (insurance company), in which, the point of contributory negligence was raised. it was stated that due to coming near of jeep jonga, the camels went out of control and due to that the accident occurred. it was also stated that at the time of accident the driver of jeep jonga was not having a valid and effective driving licence, as such, the insurance company cannot be held responsible for the payment of compensation. the insurance company also raised objection on the count that the jeep jonga in question was got freed from court by sumermal (non-claimant no. 3) by showing himself to be its owner whereas in fact chandramal (non-claimant no. 2) is the registered owner, which fact shows that at the time of accident, the said jeep jonga not running under the control and ownership of chandramal (the registered owner) and has in fact been transferred in the name of sumermal, which again amounts to breach of the terms and conditions of the insurancy policy. the averments made in the claim petition was denied. further it was also replied that still if the tribunal held them liable for paying compensation, then, their liability is limited to rs. 6000/- only. lastly it was prayed to dismiss the claim petition.6. on the basis of pleadings of the parties, the relevant issues were framed.7. during trial on behalf of claimants aw-1 smt. phoosi, aw-2 pratapa ram were examined and certain documents were produced and got exhibited. no evidence was led from the side of respondents.8. after hearing both the parties, the learned tribunal on the basis of material available on record, held the non-claimants jointly and severally liabel to pay compenation to the claimants and has directed the insurnce company to make payment of compensation amount of rs. 1,65,000/- to the claimants with interest @ 12% per annum.9. being aggrieved by the judgment and award dt. 26.09.1995, the instant appeal has been preferred by the appellant-new india assurance co. limited, before this court. notice of the appeal was issued, record was called and the arguments were heard.10. during the course of arguments two contentions were raised on behalf of appellant-firstly it was contended that as per the material available on record, it is amply proved that the driver of the jeep jonga was not having a valid and effective driving licence on the day of accident and that was deemed to be in the knowledge of the owner of the vehicle, despite that, the owner has deputed the person to ply the vehicle on road, which amounts to clear-cut breach of terms & conditions of insurance policy. secondly, it was contended that the liability of the insurance company was limited but the learned tribunal has held the insurance company responsible for the entire payment of compensation. it was next contended that during the pendency of appeal, the total awarded amount has already been deposited by the appellant, as such, suitable direction be given to recover the same. thus, on these counts it was prayed that the impugned judgment and award may kindly be quashed and set aside and the appeal may be allowed.11. on the contrary the learned counsel for the respondent-claimants refuted the contention and supported the judgment of learned tribunal and stated that the driver of jeep jonga was having experience for driving the vehicle and it has not been proved by placing proper evidence that the owner of the vehicle was aware of it. thus, it was not knowlingly the breach of terms and conditions of the policy. further, it was also contended that admittedly during that period the vehicle in question was insured with the appellant and in that situation, the insurance company cannot shriek from its legal obligation to pay compensation to the claimants and if they have any sort of right to claim, they can recover it from the owner of the vehicle and the claimants should not be made to suffer for this technical fault. it was urged that the appeal may be dismissed.12. i have considered the rival contentions and have perused the findings and conclusions drawn by the learned tribunal.13. as regards the first contention, i have perused the driving licence, which is avaialble on record as (exh.3a), which is effective from 06.09.1993 to 05.03.1994. thus, on the date of accident i.e. 31.08.1993 the driver of vehicle was not having a proper and effective driving licence. it was for the owner of the truck to prove that he was not having knowledge of such defect in licence but he has not come forward. thus, it was prayed that it was a breach of terms and conditions of policy and that the owner of jeep jonga had handed-over the vehicle to a person who was not competent to ply, therefore, the owner is himself responsible liable and the insurance company cannot be made responsible to pay any compensation to the claimants. it is also clear from the material available on record that during the period the vehicle was insured with the appellant-insurance company and this fact has not been denied. in that case, in the fitness of things, it is proper to held that the appellant-insurance company should pay the entire amount of compensation to the claimants and they may recover it alongwith interest @ 6% per annum till relization of the amount from the owner of the vehicle. it is stated that the insurance company has paid the entire amount, therefore, they are free to recover it alongwith interest from the owner of vehicle in the same proceedings before the tribunal and for that the insurance company is not required to file any seperate proceedings. the amount as stated by the appellant deposited before the tribunal may be realized by the claimants, if not already realized and if any amount remains due under the impugned award that may be recoverable first from the insurance company by the claimant. they are directed to deposit the entire due amount within one month before the learned tribunal. if any part of payment remains due and not deposited earlier, failing which the claimants will be entitled to recover the same from the insurance company.14. on the basis of the aforesaid discussion, the appeal filed by the appellant-insurance company is partly allowed and the judgment and award dt. is confirmed subject to the above modifications. no order as to costs.