Full Text
Date of Decision: 3rd May, 2012
NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. ..... Appellant
Through Mr. Pankaj Seth, Advocate
Through None
JUDGMENT
1. The Appellant impugns a judgment dated 03.09.2002 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal(the Claims Tribunal) whereby while awarding a compensation of `22,500/-, the Appellant’s defence of breach of policy condition was rejected.
2. It is urged by the learned counsel for the Appellant that the Respondent No.2 Adbul Qadir, the driver of the offending vehicle was challaned by the police for offences under Section 279 and 338 IPC apart from under 2012:DHC:3031 Section 3 read with Section 112 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which sufficiently established that the driver did not possess a valid driving licence. It is urged that this indicates the breach of the condition of the policy was writ large. Appellant was, therefore, entitled to at least recovery rights against the insured.
3. The Claims Tribunal dealt with the question of breach of the policy condition in paras 16 and 17 of the impugned judgment, which are extracted hereunder:
4. The driver Abdul Qadir entered the witness box as RW[1]. He testified that after the accident, he was beaten by the public and his driving licence was snatched. In crossexamination, no suggestion was given to RW[1] that his driving licence was not snatched by the public. He was not questioned if he made any effort to obtain a duplicate driving licence. In the circumstances, it was difficult to say that the driver did not possess a valid driving licence on the date of the accident.
5. On top of it, the Appellant Insurance Company failed to prove the breach of the condition of the insurance policy and, therefore, as held by the Claims Tribunal could not avoid the liability.
6. The statutory amount of `25,000/- shall be refunded to the Appellant Insurance Company.
7. The Appeal is devoid of any merit; the same is accordingly dismissed.
JUDGE MAY 03, 2012 pst