Insurance Company appealed against the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarding compensation to victim. Court doubted evidence and dismissed appeal maintaining Tribunal's award.
Appeal against Motor Accident Claims Tribunal's award of Rs. 1,92,156 compensation dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
I N THE HI GH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDI GARH
FAO No. 3325 of 2012 ( O&M)
DATE OF DECI SI ON: 13. 12. 2019
The Or i ent al I nsur ance Company Li mi t ed
…. . Appel l ant ver sus
Ji t ender Kumar and ot her s
. . . . . Respondent s
CORAM: - HON' BLE MRS. JUSTI CE ALKA SARI N
Pr esent : Mr . Vi nod Chaudhr i , Advocat e f or t he appel l ant Mr . Robi n Dut t , Advocat e f or r espondent No. 1
ALKA SARI N, J. :
Thi s appeal has been pr ef er r ed by t he I nsur ance Company agai nst t he awar d passed by t he Mot or Acci dent Cl ai ms Tr i bunal , Yamuna Nagar at Jagadhr i dat ed 24. 02. 2012, par t l y al l owi ng t he cl ai m pet i t i on f i l ed by Ji t ender Kumar , r espondent No. 1 her ei n.
The br i ef f act s as set out i n t he cl ai m pet i t i on wer e t hat on 15. 01. 2011, Ji t ender Kumar al ong wi t h one Gambhi r Si ngh had gone t o Radaur i n car bear i ng r egi st r at i on No. HR02U- 5253. Af t er compl et i ng t hei r wor k, t hey wer e r et ur ni ng t o vi l l age Nachr on i n t he same car . When t hey r eached near Yamuna Br i dge, Radaur , one Ashok Kumar was st andi ng t her e t o go t o vi l l age. Respondent - Ji t ender Kumar gave hi m l i f t i n hi s car . I t was f ur t her st at ed t hat when t hey r eached near ‘ T’ poi nt of Vi l l age Rat t angar h, Dheer Si ngh, r espondent No. 2, whi l e
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dr i vi ng hi s t r act or - t r ol l ey i n a r ash and negl i gent manner and at a hi gh speed came f r om t he opposi t e di r ect i on and hi t t he car f r om dr i ver si de due t o whi ch t he car st r uck agai nst a eucal ypt us t r ee. I t was f ur t her st at ed t hat due t o t he i mpact of t he acci dent , al l t he occupant s of t he car suf f er ed mul t i pl e gr i evous i nj ur i es on t hei r per sons. Respondent No. 1 i s st at ed t o have suf f er ed f r act ur es i n t he r i ght ar m and r i ght l eg, besi des ot her i nj ur i es. He was admi t t ed t o Gaba Hospi t al wher e he was oper at ed upon and i mpl ant s had t o be i nser t ed r ender i ng hi m per manent l y di sabl ed due t o t he i nj ur i es suf f er ed by hi m i n t he acci dent .
Ruqa, Ex. R2, was sent t o pol i ce and on t he basi s t her eof FI R No. 13 dat ed 25. 01. 2011, under sect i ons 279, 337, 338, 427 of t he I ndi an Penal Code, 1860, was r egi st er ed at Pol i ce St at i on Jat hl ana. Respondent Ji t ender Kumar cl ai med compensat i on t o t he t une of Rs. 20 l akhs.
The appel l ant - I nsur ance Company f i l ed i t s wr i t t en st at ement , i nt er al i a , r ai si ng t he pl ea t hat t r act or - t r ol l ey bear i ng r egi st r at i on No. HR02- X- 1494 was not i nvol ved i n t he acci dent and t hat t he dr i ver of t he t r act or - t r ol l ey was dr i vi ng wi t hout a val i d and ef f ect i ve dr i vi ng l i cence. The Tr i bunal awar ded a sum of Rs. 1, 92, 156/ - as compensat i on t o Ji t ender Kumar on account of i nj ur i es suf f er ed by hi m i n t he acci dent .
I have hear d l ear ned counsel f or t he par t i es and per used t he paper - book of t he case.
Lear ned counsel f or t he appel l ant cont ended t hat no occur r ence had t aken pl ace i n t he manner al l eged. Thi s
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ar gument i s whol l y wi t hout any mer i t , i nasmuch as, subst ant i al and cogent evi dence was l ed by t he cl ai m- pet i t i oner / r espondent t o pr ove t he f act um of t he acci dent . Jai Bhagwan, Cr i mi nal Ahl mad i n t he Cour t of Judi ci al Magi st r at e I st Cl ass, Yamuna Nagar at Jagadhr i appear ed as PW- 1 and pr oduced t he summoned r ecor d per t ai ni ng t o FI R No. 13 dat ed 25. 01. 2011. The r ecor d cl ear l y r eveal ed t hat Dheer Si ngh, dr i ver of t he of f endi ng t r act or - t r ol l ey, r espondent No. 2 her ei n, was f aci ng t r i al f or causi ng i nj ur i es t o Ji t ender Kumar and al so f or causi ng damage t o t he car bear i ng r egi st r at i on No. HR02- U- 5253. Though Dheer Si ngh f i l ed wr i t t en st at ement bef or e t he Tr i bunal but di d not st ep i nt o t he wi t ness box t o deny t he f act um of acci dent and t he manner i n whi ch t he acci dent t ook pl ace. Besi des maki ng t he bal d ar gument , t he l ear ned counsel f or t he appel l ant was unabl e t o subst ant i at e t he same f r om t he evi dence on t he r ecor d. I , t her ef or e, f i nd no mer i t i n t he ar gument t hat t he acci dent i n quest i on had not t aken pl ace.
The next ar gument r ai sed by l ear ned counsel f or t he appel l ant was t hat t her e was a del ay i n l odgi ng of t he FI R. The acci dent t ook pl ace on 15. 01. 2011, wher eas, t he FI R was l odged on 25. 01. 2011. I t was ur ged t hat t he del ay i n l odgi ng t he FI R shows t hat t he t r act or - t r ol l ey was f al sel y i mpl i cat ed i n t he case. Yet anot her ar gument r ai sed was t hat PW- 3 Dr . Vandana, Medi cal Of f i cer of Gaba Hospi t al , Jagadhr i has t est i f i ed i n her st at ement t hat t he sai d i nj ur i es coul d have been caused onl y by f al l i ng on a har d sur f ace and, l ast l y, i t was ar gued t hat t he Ruqa, Ex. R2, had been mani pul at ed.
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Al l t he af or esai d t hr ee ar gument s r ai sed by t he appel l ant can be deal t t oget her . Respondent Ji t ender Kumar was decl ar ed unf i t t o make a st at ement on 15. 01. 2011 and on subsequent dat es t i l l 24. 01. 2011. I t was onl y on 25. 01. 2011 t hat he was decl ar ed f i t . Ruqa, Ex. R2 was pr epar ed and sent on 15. 01. 2011. The ar gument r egar di ng del ay i n l odgi ng FI R i s l i abl e t o be r ej ect ed on t he gr ound t hat t he del ay has been suf f i ci ent l y expl ai ned. The r uqa, Ex. R2 was pr epar ed on 15. 01. 2011 i t sel f , t hat i s t he day of t he acci dent . Ther eaf t er , t he FI R was l odged on 25. 01. 2011 i . e. , t he day on whi ch Ji t ender Kumar was decl ar ed f i t t o make a st at ement . Ther ef or e, I f i nd t hat del ay has suf f i ci ent l y been expl ai ned.
The second ar gument r ai sed by l ear ned counsel f or t he appel l ant t hat Dr . Vandana, Medi cal Of f i cer , of Gaba Hospi t al , whi l e appear i ng as PW- 3, had st at ed i n her cr ossexami nat i on t hat t he nat ur e and t ype of i nj ur i es ar e such t hat t he same coul d be caused by f al l i ng on a har d sur f ace i s nei t her her e nor t her e. A compl et e and compr ehensi ve r eadi ng of t he st at ement and cr oss- exami nat i on of PW- 3 Dr . Vandana, Medi cal Of f i cer , of Gaba Hospi t al cl ear l y r eveal s t hat t he r espondent was oper at ed t wi ce, f i r st l y, on 16. 01. 2011 and, secondl y, on 18. 01. 2011. Fur t her , t he i nj ur i es have al so been pr oved by her i n her t est i mony. The appel l ant cannot gai n advant age by mer el y pi cki ng up a si ngl e sent ence f r om t he st at ement . I n any case, t hi s i s a t ot al l y i nnocuous submi ssi on and, hence, not hi ng t ur ns on t he same.
The l ast ar gument r ai sed by t he appel l ant t hat r uqa had been mani pul at ed i s al so l i abl e t o be r ej ect ed, i nasmuch
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as, t hi s i s an ar gument whi ch was nei t her r ai sed bef or e t he Tr i bunal nor i s i t made out f r om t he r ecor d. I n f act , Ruqa, Ex. R2 was dul y pr oved.
I n vi ew of t he above, I do not f i nd any mer i t i n t he appeal . Hence, t he same i s di smi ssed.
( ALKA SARI N) JUDGE
NOTE: Whet her speaki ng/ non- speaki ng: Speaki ng Whet her r epor t abl e: YES/ NO
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3 issues framed by the court
Whether compensation claimed by the petitioner in the motor accident case can be dismissed despite evidence proving the accident?
Whether the FIR and the medical report were manipulated as contended by the appellant?
Whether the delay in lodging the FIR affects the credibility of the accident claim?
Oriental Insurance Company Limited
Jitender Kumar
Alka Sarin
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
