ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO LTD Vs. BHOPAL SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these appeals arise out of the same motor accident and out of the common judgment and award passed by the Claims Tribunal and similar questions are involved for determination in these appeals, therefore, all the cases are being disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) All these appeals have been preferred under section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, (in short 'the Act') against the judgment and award dated 24.4.2004 passed in M.A.C. Case No. 5 of 1999, Bhopal Singh v. Jalpac India Ltd.; M.A.C.P. No. 15 of 1999, Tulsi Karki v. Jalpac India Ltd.; and M.A.C.P. No.1 of 1999, Liladhar Bhatt v. Jalpac India Ltd., by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal/District Judge, Nainital (in short 'the Tribunal'), whereby learned Tribunal has allowed the claim petition and has awarded Rs. 6,67,000 as compensation along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum, as mentioned in the impugned order, in favour of claimant-respondent No.4 Nandi Devi against opposite party No.2-appellant in the first case under section 166 of the Act. In the second case, claimant No. 1 Tulsi Karki has been awarded sum of Rs. 1,20,000.00 as compensation along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum. In the last case, the claimants Liladhar Bhatt and Savitri Devi have been awarded compensation worth Rs.1,20,000.00 along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum, as mentioned in the impugned order. Aggrieved, the insurance company, appellant, has come up in appeal for setting aside the impugned judgment and award passed by the learned Tribunal mainly on the ground that the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident was not holding a valid driving licence nor he was appointed as such by the insured and that the vehicle involved in the accident was not legally transferred in the name of R.P.Bansal, who has not been arrayed as party and the Tribunal has failed to appreciate the evidence on record properly.

(3.) Brief facts, giving rise to the present appeal, are that in the night of 16/17.7.98 Shankar Datt Bhatt, Mahendra Singh Bisht and Hayat Singh Karki (the deceased) were coming back to Haldwani from Nainital by Maruti car No. WNW 3745, driven by one Rajeev Kumar Agrawal alias Ritesh Bansal alias Monti. The driver was driving the said car rashly and negligently and as soon as the said car reached near the bend of observatory, it fell into a ravine with the result that all the aforesaid persons Shankar Datt Bhatt, Mahendra Singh Bisht and Hayat Singh sustained grievous injuries and Shankar Datt and Hayat Singh died on the spot, while the third person Mahendra Singh succumbed to his injuries in the A.I.I.M.S., Delhi. The deceased Mahendra Singh was aged 28 years and it has been alleged that he was earning Rs.1,00,000 per annum. Claim Petition No.5 of 1999 has been filed for compensation for his death. Deceased Shankar Datt was aged 26 years and he was earning Rs. 5,000 per month. Claim Petition No. 1 of 1999 has been preferred by his dependants/legal heirs for compensation, while Claim Petition No. 15 of 1999 has been preferred by the legal heirs/dependants of the deceased Hayat Singh Karki alleging that deceased was aged 26 years and he was earning Rs. 5,000 per month.