Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co Ltd vs Shivalikaben Ashishkumar Pal
2026 Latest Caselaw 452 Guj

Gujarat High Court

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co Ltd vs Shivalikaben Ashishkumar Pal on 10 February, 2026

                                                                                                               NEUTRAL CITATION




                               C/FA/3464/2022                                  ORDER DATED: 10/02/2026

                                                                                                               undefined




                        IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
                                        R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 3464 of 2022
                       ==========================================================
                                    BAJAJ ALLIANZ GENERAL INSURANCE CO LTD
                                                       Versus
                                     SHIVALIKABEN ASHISHKUMAR PAL & ANR.
                       ==========================================================
                       Appearance:
                       MS KIRTI S PATHAK(9966) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
                       MR NISHIT A BHALODI(9597) for the Defendant(s) No. 1
                       RULE SERVED for the Defendant(s) No. 2
                       ==========================================================
                         CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HASMUKH D. SUTHAR

                                                           Date : 10/02/2026
                                                            ORAL ORDER

[1.0] Insurance Company is in First Appeal under section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Challenge is made to the judgment and award dated 29.01.2022 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claim Claims Tribunal (Auxi.), Surat in Motor Accident Claim Petition No.556 of 2018 insofar as it awarded Rs.3,22,583/- towards medical expenses.

[2.0] Perusal of the judgment and award indicates that Insurance Company has challenged the judgment and award made insofar as it awarded Rs.3,22,583/- to the victim of the road accident.

[3.0] Heard learned advocates for the respective parties.

[4.0] Learned advocate Ms. Kirti Pathak appearing for the insurance company has submitted that the learned Tribunal has awarded total Rs.7,92,943/- but the appeal is filed on the ground that the learned Tribunal has erroneously awarded Rs.3,22,583/-

                                                                                                                 NEUTRAL CITATION




                               C/FA/3464/2022                                   ORDER DATED: 10/02/2026

                                                                                                                undefined

towards medical expenses though claimant has already received Rs.1,80,000/- toward mediclaim and hence, if the amount of Rs.3,22,583/- is awarded to the claimant then it will be duplication of amount. Hence, she has stated that present appeal being restricted to the value of Rs.4,00,000/-, falls under smallness of amount.

[5.0] Since the amount involved in the First Appeal is Rs.3,22,583/-, paying due regard to smallness of amount, this Court is of the considered view that the First Appeal should be disposed of as compensation awarded seems to be just and reasonable and no interference is called for. Even otherwise on merits also, the learned Tribunal has assigned reasons in paragraph 15 of the impugned judgment relying on the decision of the coordinate Bench of this Court in the case of Oriental Insurance Company vs. Kokilaben Wd/o. Arvindbhai Chhaganbhai Dodiya reported in 2015(3) GLR 2681 and has awarded Rs.3,22,583/- towards medical expenses which does not call for any interference as the claimant has received Rs.1,88,000/- under the mediclaim policy for which she had paid separate premium. So far as other grounds including actual loss of income is concerned, in view of decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Mohd. Sabeer @ Shabir Hussain vs. Regional Manager, U.P. State Road Transport Corporation reported in 2022(0) AIJEL-SC 70212, no case is made out to interfere with the impugned judgment and award.

[5.1] It is hereby made clear that this Court has not expressed any opinion on merits and question of law raised in this First Appeal and is kept open to be urged in other proceedings which

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/FA/3464/2022 ORDER DATED: 10/02/2026

undefined

may arise from the same road accident / same judgment and award. It is made clear that this order will not come in the way of adjudication of any other First Appeal pending against same judgment and award or adjudication of any other claim petition arising from same road accident. Since the First Appeal is disposed of only on the contention of monetary value being small, principle of res judicata shall not be applied to any other proceedings arising from the same road accident or same judgment and award.

[6.0] In view of above, the First Appeal is dismissed. Pending Civil Applications, if any, stands disposed of as having become infructuous. No order as to costs.

[7.0] Record and Proceedings and amount, if any lying before this Court is ordered to be transmitted to the concerned Tribunal forthwith along with accrued interest, if any. The entire awarded amount be disbursed and released in favour of the claimants after due verification by transferring the said amount to the account of the claimants either by RTGS or NEFT mode.

(HASMUKH D. SUTHAR, J.) Ajay