NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO LTD Vs. AMIRKHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant The New India Assurance Co. has directed this appeal under S. 173 of the Motor Vehicle Act against the award dtd. 16.12.1997 passed by the M.A.C.T., Ujjain, in Claim Case No. 70/89 thereby allowing the claim petition filed on behalf of the Resp. 1 and passing the award of Rs. 75,000/ in favour of respondent claimant and against the respondent 2,3 as also the appellant Insurance Company. The amount of compensation was made payable by all the respondents and the appellant jointly and severally. Aggrieved by the said award of the tribunal, the appellant has filed this appeal.

(2.) THE only contention of the learned counsel for the appellant is that the appellant Insurance Company cannot be held liable for the payment of the compensation mainly on the ground that the cover note (Policy of Insurance) was issued by the Insurance Company after the alleged accident has already occurred. In this respect the learned counsel for the appellant invited my attention to the copy of the cover note issued by the Insurance Company and available on the record of the tribunal indicating at the top that the Ujjain branch of the appellant Insurance Co. issued a cover note on 26th Oct. 1988 at 4.50 p.m. It is not disputed that the alleged accident occurred in between 4.00 to 4.15 p.m. on the aforesaid date. In view of the aforesaid facts available on record, the Insurance Company cannot be held liable to pay compensation on the ground that the Policy of Insurance comes into effect after 4.50 p.m. on 26.10.1988. A reliance was placed on the decision of the Apex Court in case of New India Assurance Co. v. Bhagwatidevi and others (1999 ACJ 534).

(3.) AS against this, learned counsel for the respondents claimants relying on the decision of the Apex Court in case of New India Assurance Co. v. Ramdayal and others (1990 ACJ 545) and submitted that in the certificate of the Insurance Policy of the offending vehicle of the present case available on the record of the tribunal, does not indicate any time of commencement of policy on 26.10.1988; as such, it will be presumed that the policy comes into effect from the previous mid night of 26.10.1988 and the learned tribunal has committed no error in holding Insurance Co. also liable for the payment of the compensation award in favour of the respondents claimants.