NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO.LTD Vs. NARINDER KAUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Appellant New India Assurance Co. Ltd. impugns a judgment dated 11.04.2005 aggrieved by the order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal(the Claims Tribunal) whereby while awarding a compensation of Rs.14,85,000/ - in favour of Respondents No.1 to 3, the Claims Tribunal directed the Appellant to pay the compensation in the first instance with a right to recover the same from the insured/owner(Respondent No.5) by way of bringing separate legal proceedings as per law.

(2.) THE Appellant does not dispute the quantum of compensation awarded and although the insured (Respondent No.5) herein is contesting the instant appeal but he also did not challenge the impugned award. The Claims Tribunal opined that the cover note Ex.R3W1/B was the result of the fraud. It is also noteworthy that the driver and the owner/insured, that is, Respondents No.4 and 5 respectively, preferred not to contest the proceedings before the Claims Tribunal and were ordered to be proceeded ex parte. Thus, there was no contest of the claim application by the owner and the driver. How the cover note Ex.R3W1/B was given to the legal heirs of the Claimants is a mystery and unknown. Even in these proceedings, Respondent No.5 has not come out as to how he obtained the cover note in question.

(3.) A perusal of the copy of the cover note Ex.R3W1/B shows that it contained two numbers, that is, 893677 and 893673. Admittedly, the insured as shown in this cover note did not contest the proceedings and, therefore, the original cover note never saw the light of the day. Mentioning of the two numbers on the cover note by itself shows some forgery about the same. The Insurance Company, i.e., the Appellant duly produced the cover note No.893676(Ex.R3W1/A -1) and 893677(Ex.R3W1/A -2) and the genuine copy of the cover note No.893678 which was in respect of a different vehicle and was of a date subsequent to the date of the accident. The Claims Tribunal was conscious of the fact that the cover note in question was a forged one issued after the date of the accident. Once the Claims Tribunal was convinced that the cover note was issued after the date of the accident, it had no jurisdiction to make the Insurance Company liable as it was obtained by the insured fraudulently in collusion with some agent/employee of the Appellant. The Insurance Company ought not to have been made liable to pay the compensation even in the first instance granting it right to recover the same subsequently from the insured.