Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
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e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | Motor Vehicles Act |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Appeal Allowed |
Headnote | Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 – s.166 – Person died after falling off from the tractor-trailer owned by respondent No.2 – Claim petition filed by appellant No.1, father of the deceased before Tribunal seeking compensation from respondent No.1-insurance company, respondent No.2 and the driver (employee of respondent no.2) – Tribunal passed award against the respondents, jointly and severally, to compensate the family members of the deceased with a sum of Rs.3,20,000/- with interest @ 6% p.a. – High Court in appeal held that respondent No.1 insurance company could not be saddled with any liability as the deceased had not travelled along with his goods in the tractor-trailer and therefore, it could not be made liable to pay any compensation – Held: Tribunal analysed the evidence in its entirety and also took into account the charge-sheet filed in respect of the accident in question for accepting the factum that deceased had travelled in the tractor along with his goods to Holealur where he had gone to unload the foodgrains of Maize loaded on the tractor belonging to respondent No.2 and while returning therefrom met with the accident – High Court by a sweeping observation proceeded to reverse the finding of fact recorded by the Tribunal – Conclusion reached by the Tribunal is a possible view, which could not have been disturbed by the High Court in a casual manner – Finding of the Tribunal that the deceased had travelled along with his goods, affirmed and restored – Insurance policy brought on record was a valid policy in respect of the offending tractor and thus, insurer would be obliged to satisfy the compensation amount awarded to the claimants– Award passed by Tribunal restored.Allowing the appeal, the Court HELD: 1.1 The Tribunal had analysed the evidence of PW2 (eye-witness) and PW-1 (mother of the deceased) in its entirety and also took into account other evidence in the shape of chargesheet filed by the Investigating Officer, in respect of the accident in question for accepting the factum that deceased had travelled in the tractor along with his goods to Holealur where he had gone to unload the foodgrains of Maize loaded on the tractor belonging to respondent No.2, which was driven by employee of respondent No.2 and while returning from Holealur, met with the accident. When cross-examined, PW-2 stated that on the date of accident they had taken maize crop in the said tractor. Notably, the fact that the deceased had loaded his agricultural produce on the tractor and also accompanied the tractor for unloading the same to Holealur and while returning met with an accident, has gone unchallenged. [Para 7] [604-B-C, H; 605-A] 1.2 The High Court by a sweeping observation proceeded to reverse the finding of fact recorded by the Tribunal. The conclusion reached by the Tribunal is a possible view, which could not have been disturbed by the High Court in the appeal filed by the insurer, much less in such a casual manner, as has been done by the High Court. [Para 9] [608-C-E] 1.3 The High Court based its conclusion that the insurer cannot be saddled with the liability to satisfy the award, on the finding that the deceased was not travelling along with his goods at the time of accident. No more and no less. However, as the said finding recorded by the High Court cannot be sustained, the finding of the Tribunal on the factum that the deceased had travelled along with his goods is affirmed and restored. It would necessarily follow that the insurer was not absolved of its liability to pay the compensation amount awarded to the claimants. The Tribunal had found, as of fact, that the insurance policy brought on record was a valid policy in respect of the offending tractor. Assuming that the insurance company was not liable to pay compensation amount awarded to the claimants as the offending tractor was duly insured, the insurer would be still liable to pay the compensation amount in the first instance with liberty to recover the same from the owner of the vehicle owner (respondent No.2). However, in the facts of the present case, consequent to affirmation and restoration of the finding of fact recorded by the Tribunal regarding the factum that deceased had travelled along with his goods at the time of accident, the insurer would be obliged to satisfy the compensation amount awarded to the claimants. [Paras 10, 11 and 12] [608-F-H; 609-A-B; 610-G] |
Judge | Hon'ble Mr. Justice A.M. Khanwilkar |
Neutral Citation | 2018 INSC 285 |
Petitioner | Shivawwa And Anr. |
Respondent | The Branch Manager, National Insurance Co. Ltd. And Anr. |
SCR | [2018] 4 S.C.R. 599 |
Judgement Date | 2018-03-28 |
Case Number | 2247 |
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