D.M,Oriental Ins.Co. v. Jay Ch. Rana

MA No.547 of 2002

1. 25.09.2019 Heard Mr. Mohanty, learned counsel for the appellant-Insurance Company and learned amicus curiae.

1. This appeal has been filed by the appellantInsurance Company under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short ‘the Act’) assailing the judgment and award dated 18.02.2002 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-I, Balasore in Claim Misc. Case No.139(C) of 1998 directing the appellantInsurance Company to pay a compensation of Rs.40,000/- to the claimant-respondent with certain conditions.

1. Mr. Mohanty, learned counsel for the appellantInsurance Company assails the impugned award on two grounds, i.e. firstly, on the ground that although learned Tribunal while answering the Issue no.3 has held that the Insurance Company is liable to pay compensation amount awarded in favour of the claimant, which may be reimbursed from the owner of the offending vehicle, but in the ordering portion, the same was not reflected for which the Insurance Company is not in a position to initiate appropriate proceeding for recovery of the compensation amount from the owner of the offending vehicle. The second ground is that no default interest should have been awarded and the interest awarded is at a higher side and the rate of interest could not be more than 6%.

1. Learned amicus curiae has no serious objection to the same. He submits that when learned Tribunal has held that the Insurance Company is entitled to get

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the reimbursement of compensation amount from the owner of the offending vehicle by initiating the appropriate proceeding, a direction to that effect ought to have been made. However, learned Tribunal might have inadvertently omitted to record the same in the concluding paragraph of the impugned award.