Jharkhand High Court
Hdfc Ergo General Insurance Co. ... vs Krishna Ghosh & Others on 26 July, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Civil Miscellaneous Appellate Jurisdiction)
M.A. No. 308 of 2018
........
HDFC Ergo General Insurance Co. Ltd. .... ..... Appellant
Versus
Krishna Ghosh & Others .... ..... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH PRASAD DEO
(Through : Video Conferencing)
............
For the Appellant : Mr. S. J. Roy, Advocate.
For the Respondents :
........
05/26.07.2021.
Heard, learned counsel for the appellant, Mr. S. J. Roy.
The appellant - HDFC Ergo General Insurance Co. Ltd. has
preferred this appeal against the award dated 16.03.2018 passed by
District Judge-I-cum- P.O., Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Dhanbad in
Motor Accident Claim Case No.233/2015, whereby the claimants namely,
Krishna Ghosh and Antara Ghosh have been awarded compensation to the
tune of Rs.13,73,617/- along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date
of filing of the claim application and the right of recovery has been
granted in favour of the Insurance Company to recover the awarded
amount from the owner of the offending vehicle after indemnifying the
same.
Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that so far quantum
of compensation is concerned, the Insurance Company has not assailed the
impugned award against the claimants, rather it has been assailed against
the owner of the offending vehicle i.e. Tilok Chakraborty, S/o Gopal
Chandra Chakraborty owner of Chevrolet Beat Car bearing registration
No. JH-01BD-7697 presently posted as Branch Manager I.C.I.C.I.
Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ozone Plaza, Bank More, P.O. & P.S.-
Dhanbad, District- Dhanbad.
Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that owner was
himself driving the vehicle and he has no valid and effective driving
licence, though the right of recovery has been granted in favour of
Insurance Company to recover the same from owner of the offending
vehicle, but after indemnifying the award.
Learned counsel for the appellant has thus submitted that if the
owner of the vehicle has no valid and effective driving licence, the
responsibility ought to have been fastened upon the owner instead of
Insurance Company.
Considering the submission made by learned counsel for the
appellant, since the appeal has not been preferred against the claimants,
rather the same has been preferred against the owner of offending vehicle
and the right of recovery has already been granted in favour of the
Insurance Company after satisfying the award to the claimants, as such, in
view of the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of Oriental
Insurance Company Limited Vs. Nanjappan & Others reported in (2004)
13 SCC 224, the instant miscellaneous appeal, being devoid of merit, is
hereby dismissed.
The statutory amount deposited by appellant-Insurance Company at
the time of 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 of award to the claimants after due
notice and verification. The balance amount shall be indemnified by the
Insurance Company to the claimants within a reasonable period, as the
occurrence is of dated 05.10.2014.
(Kailash Prasad Deo, J.)
Sunil-Jay/-
