National Insurance Co.Ltd v. Rajbala & Ors

V.B.GUPTA, J. rs

* HIGH COURT OF DELHI : NEW DELHI MAC App. No.420 of 2004 % Judgment reserved on: 11th August, 2008 Judgment delivered on:21st August, 2008 National Insurance Company Limited, Regional Office – II 2-E/9, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi – 110 055 ….Appellant Through: Mr.L.K. Tyagi, Adv. Versus 1. Smt. Rajbala Wd./o Late Sh. Babu Lal 2. Baby Bhanu Kumari D/o Late Sh. Babu Lal 3. Baby Ency, D/o Late Sh. Babu Lal 4. Master Deepak S/o Late Sh. Babu Lal 5. Sh. Inder Raj S/o Late Sh. Raman Dayal 6. Smt. Sharupi W/o Sh. Inder Raj Petitioner Nos. 2 to 4 are being minor through their mother and natural guardian i.e. Smt. Rajbala. All R/o C/o Sh. Rohtash Kumar, A-1, Ganesh Nagar Extn., Shakarpur, Delhi. II Address: 10178, Motia Khan, Paharganj, Delhi. 7. Mohd. Akhtar S/o Mohd. Akbar R/o Villate Kaila Bhatta, Opp: New Masjid, Ghaziabad (U.P.) 8. Sh. Aslam S/o Sh. Akhtar R/o 46, Kaila Bhatta, Opp: New Masjid, Ghaziabad (U.P.) …..Respondents Through: Mr.Anil Aggarwal with Mr.Sanjay Mishra, Advocate for respondents 1 to 6. Coram: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V.B. GUPTA 1. Whether the Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes 2. To be referred to Reporter or not? Yes 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Yes V.B.Gupta, J. The present appeal under section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short as the "Act") has been filed by the Insurance Company/Appellant against the award dated 06.08.04 passed by Ms. Neena Bansal Krishna, Judge, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (for short as the "Tribunal"). 2. Brief facts of the case are that on 16.11.001, Sh. Babu Lal was going on a scooter bearing no.DL-7S-E- 4657 from his house, Motia Khan to his place of work at Rajinder Nagar Industrial Area. When he was taking turn to enter into the industrial area, the offending vehicle bearing No. UP-14N-5383, being driven by Respondent No.7 herein, came in a rash and negligent manner from Ghaziabad side and hit the scooter, as a result of the same, Babu Lal fell on the road and sustained grievous injuries. He was taken to Narender Mohan Hospital and thereafter, he was shifted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital at Shahadra, where he died on 22.11.01. 3. The claimants i.e. his parents, wife and three children filed the claim petition claiming compensation of Rs.15,00,000/- along with the interest @ 24% per annum against the Respondent no.7 being the driver of the offending vehicle, Respondent no.8 being the owner of the offending vehicle and the Appellant as the offending vehicle was insured with them. 4. The petition was originally filed under sections 140 & 166 of the Act but subsequently was converted into under section 163A of the Act. 5. Respondent nos.7 & 8 in their written statement took a preliminary objection that the accident occurred due to rash and negligent act of the deceased himself and thus, they are not liable to pay the compensation. 6. On merits, all averments contained in the petition were denied. It is stated that Respondent no.7 has been falsely implicated in this case. The deceased himself did not follow the traffic rules and was driving his scooter in a rash and negligent manner at a fast speed and while taking the turn, he could not control himself and hit into the motor cycle of Respondent no.7. 7. The Appellant in its written statement took the preliminary objections that it is not liable to pay the compensation, if the driver of the offending vehicle was not having a valid licence or if the owner of the vehicle has violated the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. 8. On merits, averments contained in the petition were denied, though it is admitted that the offending vehicle was insured vide policy no. 6203857 and cover note no. 0631242 valid from 23.03.01 to 22.03.02. 9. Vide impugned judgment, the Tribunal awarded the compensation of Rs.5,07,500/- along with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of the petition till the date of its realization to the Claimants. 10. It has been contend