INDRAPRASTHA LOGISTICS PRIVATE LIMITED. Vs. NAVEEN KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Appeal under Sec. 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 has been filed on behalf of the Appellant/owner of the offending vehicle to challenge the Recovery Rights granted against him in favour of the Insurance Company, vide Award dtd. 18/11/2020.

(2.) The main ground of challenge is that the Recovery Rights have been granted only because the driver was found drunk. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the Appellant that the vehicle had been handed over to the driver,at about 6 a.m. while the accident took place at 10.50 AM. The owner cannot be held vicariously responsible for the individual dereliction of the driver. Thus, the Recovery Rights have been wrongly granted.

(3.) Reliance has been placed on the cases of Bajaj Alliance General vs. Smt. Manju Devi and Ors, in MAC. MA No.2332 of 2011 decided on 2/4/2014, wherein the Andhra Pradesh High Court had refused to grant the Recovery Rights to the Insurance Company in the similar circumstances. Reliance is also placed on National Insurance Company vs. Smt. Sanpati and Ors, in FAO No. 112 of 2007 decided on 10/5/2010 by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, wherein the Insurance Company was held to entirely liable in view of the fact that the contents of the report does not establish a safe handling of samples, the safekeeping and sealing, dispatching etc. It was in these circumstances that the Insurance Company was not absolved of its liability on the ground that the driver was drunk.