SBI General Insurance Company Ltd. v. Amar Singh & Ors.

1. This appeal has been filed challenging the Award dated 10.07.2020 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Impugned Award’) passed by the learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Shahdara District, Karkardooma, Delhi (hereinafter referred to as ‘Tribunal’) in MACP No.1734/2017 titled as Amar Singh & Anr. v. Salim Khan & Ors.

2. It was the case of the claimants before the learned Tribunal that on 12.03.2017 at 11 PM, the deceased - Sh. Mohan Lal was coming on a motorcycle bearing no. DL-13SS-8584 from Shahdara to Ghaziabad after meeting his family members, while his brother - Sh. Somnath was following him on another motorcycle. When the deceased reached the Chauraha, New Flyover of Meerut Highway, suddenly a trailer bearing no. UP- 20M-0996 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘offending vehicle’) came in a rash and negligent manner and hit the motorcycle of the deceased. As a result, the deceased died on the spot. FIR No.0476/17 under Sections 279/304A/427 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Police Station Vijay Nagar.

3. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that the offending vehicle has been falsely implicated in the accident. He submits that the learned Tribunal has wrongly relied upon the statement of the brother of the deceased - Sh. Somnath (PW-2) to arrive at the conclusion that the accident had taken place with the offending vehicle being driven in a rash and negligent manner. He submits that the presence of the PW-2 at the site of the accident is highly doubtful and, in fact, the Tribunal itself had observed that he was trying to play extra smart and was trying to avoid questions and was replying in a very tricky manner during the course of his cross-examination.

4. I do not find any force in the submission made by the learned counsel for the appellant.

5. The driver of the offending vehicle, that is, respondent no.3 herein, had, in his written statement, stated that the accident had already taken place with some unknown person having hit the deceased. He, however, also admitted that the police officials had taken him into custody. As far as the appellant is concerned, it had only disputed the quantum of the claim raised by the respondent nos.[1] and 2 herein, that is the claimants.

6. The learned Tribunal after a detailed scrutiny of the evidence of PW-2 observed as under:

7. I see no infirmity in the above observation of the Tribunal and in its finding that the claimants had been able to prove that the accident had taken place with the offending vehicle hitting the motorcycle of the deceased while it was being driven in a rash and negligent manner. As noted by the learned Tribunal, the onus of the proof on the claimants is to be judged on the touchstone of preponderance of probabilities and not on proof beyond reasonable doubt as is required in a criminal trial.

8. The only other challenge of the appellant to the Impugned Award is on the determination of the income of the deceased based on the minimum wages of a skilled worker as notified by the Govt. of NCT of Delhi (in short ‘GNCTD’). The learned counsel for the appellant submits that admittedly, the deceased was a resident of Ghaziabad; and there was no proof of him working as a driver with Ola Cabs or working for gain in Delhi. He submits that, therefore, minimum wages as notified by the Government of Uttar Pradesh should have been adopted for the determination of the income of the deceased.

9. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the claimants submits that the deceased had a driving licence issued by the GNCTD for LMV commercial vehicles. The same duly proves that he was a driver with Ola Cabs and, in any case, the adoption of minimum wages as notified by the GNCTD cannot be faulted with.

10. I have considered the submissions made by the learned counsels for the parties.

11. Though no proof of the deceased working as a driver with Ola Cabs was produced by the claimants, at the same time, the driving licence of the deceased (Ex.PW-1/2) has been issued by the GNCTD and was valid for LMV commercial vehicle. Therefore, no fault can be found in the learned Tribunal determining the income of the deceased based on the minimum wages of a skilled worker as notified by the GNCTD.