Branch Manager vs Mithun Rai
2021 Latest Caselaw 849 Jhar

            IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
                     (Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction)
                            M.A. No. 384 of 2015
       Branch Manager, Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. .... .. ...            Appellant(s)
                                      Versus
       1. Mithun Rai
       2. Sulochana Kumari
       3. Shiv Prasant Phalahari
       4. Ajit Kumar Pandit                                    .. ... ... Respondent(s)
                           ...........

CORAM :HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH PRASAD DEO (Through :-Video Conferencing) .........

For the Appellant(s) : Mr. Pratyush Kumar, Advocate. For the Respondent(s) : Mr. Uday Kant Thakur, Advocate ..........

11/22.02.2021.

Heard, learned counsel for the parties.

2. The appellant- Branch Manager, Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. has preferred this Misc. Appeal against the judgment dated 10.03.2015 passed by learned Principal District Judge -cum- Presiding Officer, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Godda, in Title (M.V.) Suit No.38/2012.

3. Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that offending vehicle was not covered with valid permit on the date of accident as the permit was valid from 30.04.2012 to 29.08.2012 whereas the date of accident is 09.04.2012, as such, there is violation of terms and conditions of the policy by the insured but instead of fastening the liability upon owner of the vehicle, learned Tribunal has fastened the liability upon the Insurance Company to pay the compensation amount and recovery the same from owner of the offending vehicle, as such, the appeal may be allowed by setting aside the impugned award.

4. Learned counsel for the claimants/respondents has opposed the same and submitted that this issue has already been dealt with by the Apex Court in the case of Amrit Paul Singh and Another vs. Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited and Others, reported in (2018) 7 SCC 558, as such, appeal may be dismissed.

5. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, looking into the facts and circumstances of the case and in view of the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of Amrit Paul Singh (Supra), this Court is not inclined to interfere with the impugned award.

6. Accordingly, the instant Miscellaneous Appeal stands dismissed.

7. The statutory amount deposited by the Insurance Company before this Court while preferring the appeal shall be remitted to the learned Tribunal by the learned Registrar General of this Court within a period of four weeks so as to indemnify the part award and the balance amount shall be paid by the Insurance Company within a reasonable time as the accident taken place on 09.04.2012.

8. I.A. No.895 of 2020 stands dismissed as the main appeal has already been dismissed.

(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.) Sandeep/