SARITA DEVI Vs. NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) In a road traffic accident that occurred on 16/7/2005, Mohinder Kumar sustained injuries and succumbed to the same. A claim petition was filed before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (herein after referred to as 'the Tribunal' for the sake of convenience). The said claim petition was contested by the respondent-insurance company as well as by the owner of the offending vehicle. By award dtd. 31/8/2011, a sum of Rs.15,50,000.00 (Rupess Fifteen Lakh and Fifty Thousand only) along with interest at the rate of 6% per annum was awarded by the Tribunal directing the respondent owner of the vehicle to deposit the said amount while exonerating the respondent-insurance company.

(3.) Being aggrieved, the claimants questioned the compensation awarded and exoneration of the respondent-insurer company by filing an appeal before the High Court in FAO No.448/2011. The High Court vide its judgment and order dtd. 17/6/2016 disposed of the appeal by raising the rate of interest to 7.5% and holding that the insurer is saddled with the liability and directing the insurer to deposit the entire compensation amount along with up to date interest within a period of eight weeks from the date of the judgment.