Nishka Srinivas Veluvali
Published On: January 27, 2022 at 16:31 IST
The Rajasthan High Court endorsed the Judgement of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MCAT) which has relied on the principle of “Pay and recover” and directed the Insurance Agency to first remit the Compensation to the Claimants and then recover the same from the vehicle owner.
Justice Sudesh Bansal directed that, “Insurance Company has miserably failed to prove that the declaration of nullifying the Driving License of the Driver was ever brought to the knowledge of the owner of vehicle and it is not proved that the owner was guilty of Negligence in not following the due care and caution to fulfill the conditions of the insurance policy, therefore the Tribunal has not committed any error of Law in following the principle of pay and recover”.
At the onset, the Claim Petition was filed with regard to an Accident that occurred on 3, July 2015 when the vehicle in question had overturned and Mr. Vinit Moyal lost his life.
The vehicle in question was Insured with United Insurance Company, owned by the Respondent Ashraf and drove by Respondent Mustkim. Upon filing of the Claim Petition as per the Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the Tribunal Court had granted a compensation of Rs. 47,99,536 with Interest of the Claimants.
The Tribunal Court had observed that there was Breach of conditions of the Insurance as the driver was not only having a valid License but did not possess a route permit and fitness certificate on the date of Accident.
The Insurance Company was vindicated from liability but instead was directed to Compensate the Claimants first and then recover the same from owner and driver later.
The aforementioned directions were endorsed by the Rajasthan High Court.
Also read: Eligibility Criteria to get Driving License in India