NATIONAL INSURANCE CO LTD Vs. ANJALI MALLICK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Rule being Civil Rule No. 422(M) of 1992 has been issued by a Division Bench of this Court asking the respondent opposite parties who are the claimants before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal to show-cause as to why the implementation of the award dated 16.9.91 in MAC Case No. 166 of 1990 of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Midnapore should not be stayed till the disposal of the appeal and such further order/orders should not be made as to the Court may deem fit and proper.

(2.) By an order dated 13.3.92 the implementation of the award in MAC Case No. 166 of 1990 was stayed. We have heard Mr. Ajit Bhusan Majumdar for the appellant petitioner and Mr. P. B. Sahu for the respondent and Mr. Biswajit Chowdhury, Senior Advocate as amicus curiae.

(3.) There is an application for analogous hearing of the present appeal along with FMAT 176 of 1992 filed by the appellant where Parvati Dehari filed a claim on account of the death of her son Danga Dehari in the self same accident. Another claim was filed by Chabi Khamroi claiming compensation for the death of her husband Badal Khamroi in the said accident. In each of the three cases the Tribunal made an award at the rate 25,000/-. National Insurance Co. Ltd. has filed three separate appeals being FMAT 176 of 1992, FMAT 177 of 1992 and FMAT 178 of 1992 contending inter alia that as the victims were gratuitous passengers in the truck and had no insurance coverage, the Insurance Company had no liability to bear the compensation as awarded by the Tribunal below. We allow the application for analogous hearing of all the three appeals being FMAT 176 of 1992 and FMAT 178 of 1992 to be heard along with the present appeal being FMAT 177 of 1992 since common questions of fact and law are involved in all the three appeals, the FIR, charge-sheet and investigation report are also identical covering all the three cases and the insurance policy as also the witnesses are also identical in respect of all the three cases.