NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO LTD Vs. KUTISWAR PARAMANIK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, i. e. the Insurance Company concerned, filed an application before the learned Court below for deciding the question of jurisdiction of the learned Claims Tribunal to decide the claim application filed by the Claimant-opposite party No. 1. By the impugned order the learned Court below has found that the Registered Office of the Insurance Company is situated within its territorial jurisdiction and thus rejected the petitioner's application. A copy of the application for compensation has been annexed to the application under article 227 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) THE said application for compensation was filed in Form Comp. A under section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Rules referred to in the said Form are Rules 329/330 of the West Bengal Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. From a copy of such application it appears that the address of the claimant-opposite party No1, as disclosed in such application, shows that the claimant-opposite party No. l is a resident of District Nadia. Such application also indicates that the alleged accident took place at Nadia and the address of the owner of the vehicle is also shown to be at Nadia. Such application also discloses that the Regional Office of the Insurance Company concerned is at 4, Mango lane (1st Floor), Kolkata- 700 001 but the Insurance Policy was issued by the kalyani Branch of the said Insurance Company. According to the learned advocate for the petitioner, the learned Court below does not have the jurisdiction to entertain the said application for compensation and according to the said learned Advocate the application for compensation should have been filed by the claimant-opposite party No. 1 before the appropriate authority in the District of Nadia since the claimant's residence, the residence of the owner of the vehicle concerned and the place of the alleged accident are all at Nadia. According to the learned Advocate for the opposite party No. 1, since the Regional office of the Insurance Company is within the jurisdiction of the learned Court below, the learned Court below has jurisdiction to entertain the application for compensation. The learned Advocate for the opposite party No. l referred to section 166 (2) of the said Act and submitted that the option lies with the claimant with regard to the forum before which the application for compensation can be filed.

(3.) SECTION 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 is quoted below: