ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY Vs. LEKH RAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The only question which arises in this case is whether the driver of the vehicle in question held a valid and effective driving licence on the date of the accident or not.

(2.) The accident out of which the present petition arises took place on 6.6.2005. It is also not disputed that the offending vehicle was a Mahindra Jeep, which was registered as a Light Motor Vehicle Pickup, as is apparent from the registration certificate Ext.RW-2/A. Therefore, it was a transport vehicle. It is also not disputed that the driver of the vehicle Vinod Kumar held a driving licence which specifically stated that he was entitled to drive "LMV-NT", which means Light Motor Vehicle Non-transport. This licence on the face of it did not entitle him to drive a transport vehicle and in fact the licence clearly indicated that he could only drive a non-transport vehicle. The learned Tribunal, however, held the Insurance Company liable on the ground that a light motor vehicle is a motor vehicle and merely because the vehicle was a transport vehicle would not amount to violation of the terms of the Act and the Policy and therefore, the Insurance Company could not escape its liability. The learned Tribunal, in my view, committed a grave error and has not taken into consideration a number of judgments. There was some dispute with regard to this aspect earlier but this dispute now stand settled.

(3.) A Full Bench of this Court dealt with a similar question and disposed of the reference in view of the judgments of the Apex Court rendered in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Kusum Rai and Ors., 2006 4 SCC 250 and National Insurance Company Ltd. v. Annappa Irappa Nesria and Ors., 2008 3 SCC 464.