ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO LTD Vs. SHIVAM BHAGAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 is directed against the judgment and award dated 19.12.2007 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, New Delhi.

(2.) THE material facts relevant for the decision of the present appeal are not in dispute. A claim petition for compensation under Section 166 and 140 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 was filed by the respondents No.1 to 4 claiming compensation for the untimely demise of one Ram Lal Meena in a road accident from the appellant, the respondent No.5 and one Shri Ram Naresh son of Shri Subh Pal Singh, being the insurer, the owner and the driver of the offending vehicle respectively, which was later on converted to a petition under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, on an application filed by the respondents No.1 to 4. Subsequently, the name of Shri Ram Naresh Singh, the driver of the offending vehicle was also deleted from the array of parties. THE said claim petition was disposed of by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal by an order dated 19.12.2007, whereby compensation to the tune of ' 2,47,056/- along with simple interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of the filing of the petition till realization was awarded to the respondents No.1 to 4. Aggrieved therefrom, the present appeal has been preferred by the appellant - Insurance Company.

(3.) STRONG reliance is placed by the counsel for the appellant on the testimony of R3W-1 - Harsh Nangia, an official of the Insurance Company in support of her contention that the bus in question was not insured with the appellant Insurance Company, on the date of the accident, that is, on 27.06.1997. R3W-1 proved on record the cheque towards the premium amount as Exhibit R3W-1/1 and the memo of the Bank showing that the said cheque was dishonoured on account of insufficiency of funds, exhibited as R3W-1/2. Further, the said witness of the appellant Insurance Company proved and exhibited a number of other documents, including the letter of intimation of the cancellation of the policy to the insured (that is, the respondent No.5), the original postal receipts, the copy of the cancelled policy and a copy of the cover note (Exhibit R3W-1/3 to Exhibit R3W-1/6). According to the learned counsel for the appellant, a cumulative reading of the aforesaid documents shows that the appellant-Insurance Company had successfully proved and established on record that the insurance policy was not in existence on the date of the accident, which took place on 27.06.1997, that is, after the cancellation of the policy on 03.02.1997.