Jammu & Kashmir High Court
National Insurance Co. Ltd vs Unknown on 5 October, 2023
Sr. No. 18
HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT JAMMU
MA No. 491/2012
CM No. 1641/2019[1/2019]
National Insurance Co. Ltd. .....Appellant(s)/Petitioner(s)
Through: Mr. D. S. Chouhan, Advocate and
Ms. Damini Singh Chouhan, Advocate
Vs
..... Respondent(s)
Rattan Chand and ors.
Through: Ms. Sipla Devi, Advocate vice
Mr. Narinder Kr. Attri, Advocate
Coram: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY DHAR, JUDGE
ORDER
05.10.2023
1. The appellant-Insurance Company has challenged award dated
12.09.2012 passed by the Commissioner, Employees Compensation Act,
Udhampur (hereinafter referred to as the Commissioner), whereby an
amount of Rs. 4,36,940/- has been awarded as compensation in favour of
the claimants/respondent Nos. 1 to 5, to be payable by the appellant-
Insurance Company.
2. It appears that respondent Nos. 1 to 5/claimants have filed a petition
before the Commissioner seeking compensation on account of death of
Sham Lal, who was stated to have died as a result of motor vehicular
accident that took place on 09.04.2006, while the deceased was driving a
vehicle No. JK14-5546. It was further claimed that the deceased was
working under employment of respondent No. 6, the registered owner of
the vehicle in question. The Commissioner on the basis of the evidence
led by the parties, came to the conclusion that the deceased was working
under employment of respondent No. 6 the registered owner of the vehicle
in question and his death took place during the course of his employment.
It was also found that the deceased was earning monthly wages of Rs.
4000/-. Since the vehicle in question was insured with the appellant-
Insurance Company, it was saddled with liability to indemnify the
insured.
3. The appellant-Insurance Company has challenged the impugned award
primarily on the ground that the registered owner of the vehicle had
transferred the vehicle in question to respondent No. 7 without getting the
certificate of insurance transferred in favour of the said respondent. On
this ground, it is urged that the appellant-Insurance Company was not
obliged to pay compensation to the claimants. It has been claimed that the
insured-respondent No. 6 has transferred the offending vehicle prior to the
date of the accident without getting the certificate of insurance transferred
in favour of the transferee and without intimation to the appellant/insurer.
Therefore, according to the appellant, the registered owner of the vehicle
did not have any insurable interest, as such, the Insurance policy ceased to
be in force.
4. Heard and considered.
5. So far as assertion of the appellant-Insurance Company that the insured
vehicle was transferred by its registered owner i.e. respondent No. 6
herein in favour of respondent No. 7 is concerned, the said assertion has
not been established before the learned Commissioner. There is a clear
finding recorded by the learned Commissioner that the offending vehicle
was owned by respondent No. 6 at the time of the accident and its transfer
in favour of respondent No. 7 has not been established. This finding of
fact cannot be interfered by this Court in the present appeal, therefore, the
contention of the appellant-Insurance Company that because transfer of
the insured vehicle had taken place from respondent No. 6 to respondent
No. 7 without transfer of the certificate of insurance and without
intimation to the appellant-Insurance Company, is without any substance.
6. Even if it is assumed for the sake of arguments that the insured vehicle
had been transferred by its registered owner i.e. respondent No. 6 in
favour of respondent No. 7 prior to the date of the accident without
getting the certificate of insurance transferred and without intimation to
the appellant-Insurance Company, still then in terms of provisions
contained in Section 157 of the Motor Vehicles Act, where a person who
is holding a certificate of insurance in accordance with the provisions of
Chapter XI of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, transfers the ownership of
the said vehicle to another person, the certificate of insurance and the
policy described in the certificate is deemed to have been transferred in
favour of the person to whom the motor vehicle has been transferred with
effect from the date of its transfer. Only the certificate of insurance, which
has been issued in accordance with Chapter XI of the Motor Vehicles Act
gets automatically transferred in the name of transferee of the vehicle,
meaning thereby, that a certificate of insurance to the extent it covers
compulsory risks as per requirement laid down in Section 147 of the
Motor Vehicles Act, which falls in Chapter XI of the said Act, would get
transferred. In terms of Section 147 of the Motor Vehicles Act,
compulsory policy requirements include risks inter alia in respect of
liability arising under the Workmen's Compensation Act in respect of
death or bodily injury to an employee. Therefore, in the instant case, the
certificate of insurance to the extent it covers compulsory risks relating to
liability arising under the Workmen's Compensation Act in respect of
death of the deceased, would get automatically transferred to respondent
No. 7 upon transfer of the offending vehicle by its original owner i.e.
respondent No. 6.
7. In the above context, I am supported by the judgments of the Supreme
Court in the case titled, 'Rikhi Ram and another vs. Sukhrania (SMT)
and others' reported in (2003) 3 SCC 1997 and 'Firdaus vs. Oriental
Insurance Co. Ltd. & Ors.' reported in (2017) 15 SCC 674.
8. In view of the aforesaid settled position of law, the contention of the
appellant-Insurance Company that the insurer is eligible to be exonerated
of its liability of paying the awarded sum to the claimants, is without any
merit.
9. For the foregoing discussion, I do not find any merit in this appeal, as
such, the same is dismissed.
(SANJAY DHAR)
JUDGE
Jammu
05.10.2023
Neha-II
Whether the order is speaking: Yes/No
Whether the order is reportable: Yes/No
