The Karnataka High Court has decided on liability of the Insurance Company if the driver carries faulty/ unsuitable license.
The single-judge bench of Justice S Vishwajit Shetty has observed that no compensation can be claimed under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 if a heavy goods vehicle is driven by a person holding a light motor vehicle license.
The appeal was filed by the owner of the offending lorry who was held liable to pay the compensation by the MACT. The claimants who are the parents of deceased in accident, filed for compensation was partly allowed by the Tribunal and a compensation of ₹5,90,000/- with interest at 6% per annum.
In facts of the case, the driver was furnished with a LMV License and was driving the heavy vehicle in violation of Rules.
It was submitted by the Learned Counsel for the appellant-owner of the offending lorry that the Tribunal had erred in exonerating the liability of the insurer of the offending lorry though as on the date of accident, the insurance policy issued by the insurer was in force. He submitted that the Tribunal had exonerated the liability of the insurer only on the ground that the driver of the offending lorry did not have valid and effective driving licence to drive a heavy goods vehicle as on the date of accident. He further averred that admittedly the driver of the offending tipper lorry possessed a light motor vehicle driving licence and therefore since the unladen weight of the offending lorry being lesser than 7500 kg, the offending vehicle is required to be considered as a light motor vehicle and the liability to pay compensation is required to be saddled on the insurer of the offending tipper lorry. He stated that the unladen weight of the vehicle as could be seen from Ex.R1 the ‘B’ register extract is only 6190 kg and therefore the same is required to be considered as a light motor vehicle though the said vehicle is categorized as heavy goods vehicle.
To butress the submission, reliance was placed on SC judgements in Mukund Dewangan Vs. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. etc., 2016 Latest Caselaw 134 SC, RAJENDRA SINGH vs. NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD., 2020 Latest Caselaw 402 SC including others.
Contrary, the Learned Counsel appearing for the insurer of the offending vehicle submitted that admittedly the driver of the lorry did not possess licence to drive heavy goods vehicle and as on the date of accident, he was only holding a light motor vehicle driving licence. The vehicle in question is a transport vehicle and the gross weight of the vehicle is much more than 7500 kg as could be seen from Ex.R1. Therefore, the Tribunal has rightly exonerated the insurer from its liability.
High Court's Observation
Answering to the prime question raised, the Court referred to Mukund Dewangan judgement wherein the same was settled by the Supreme Court and it was held that a transport vehicle and omnibus, gross vehicle weight of either of which does not exceed 7500 kg would be a light motor vehicle and the holder of driving licence to drive class of light motor vehicle as provided in Section 10(2)(d) is competent to drive a transport vehicle or omnibus, the gross vehicle weight of which does not exceed 7500 kg.
In view of the above, the Court affirmed the Tribunal's view in the impugned judgement.
"The Tribunal was fully justified in holding that the offending vehicle was used in violation of the terms and conditions of the policy and therefore the insurer of the offending vehicle was not liable to pay the compensation. I find no illegality or irregularity with regard to the finding recorded by the Tribunal inso far as it relates to exonerating the liability of the insurer and holding the insured/owner of the offending vehicle liable to pay the compensation."
The Court further threw light on SC precedents in the issue concerned herein and explained that the word “gross vehicle weight” as defined in Section 2(15) of the Act means, in respect of any vehicle, the total weight of the vehicle and load certified and registered by the registering authority as permissible for that vehicle. Ex .R1 which is the ‘B’ register extract of the offending vehicle would go to show that the registered laden weight of the said vehicle is 16200 kg which is much more than 7500 kg. Therefore, the gross weight of the offending vehicle if considered as 16200 kg, the said vehicle is required to be considered as a heavy goods vehicle in view of Section 2(16) of the Act, which states that any goods carriage the gross weight of which exceeds 12000 kg would be considered as heavy goods vehicle.
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