Uttaranchal High Court: Sudhanshu Dhulia, J. remanded a matter pertaining to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal and directed them to decide on the matter expeditiously.
The appeal was filed as the appellant as she was aggrieved by the order passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. The appellant’s husband, Bhupesh Chandra Singh, was a Junior Engineer in Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited. On 13-09-2015, while he was going on an official vehicle from “Daakpatthar” to “Koti Icchadi Dam”, he met with an accident as the vehicle fell into a deep “Khadda”. Consequently, he sustained injuries and died on the same day. On account of his death, the appellant filed a petition claiming a compensation of Rupees Eighty Lakh Twenty Thousand. The Tribunal dismissed their petition.
The insurance Company argued that the deceased was covered under the Workmen’s Compensation Act and was insured with the New India Assurance Company, through which the claimant had already received a compensation of Rupees Seven Lakh Two Thousand One Hundred Seven and the claim petition was barred by Section 167 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. This argument is not valid as the deceased was not a workman and was not covered under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923.
The appellants argued that the vehicle in question was covered under the Comprehensive Policy. To this, the insurance company contested that in the comprehensive policy, the liability is only limited and what amount of compensation has to be given will depend upon the terms and conditions of the policy.
The status of a Comprehensive Policy, has been elaborated in the Supreme Court’s case of National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Balakrishnan, (2013) 1 SCC 731, where it was held that there is no doubt that a comprehensive policy covers the liability of the insurer for payment of compensation for the occupant in a car.
Relying on this judgment, the Court set aside the order of the Tribunal remanded the matter back to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, and directed them to hear and decide on the matter expeditiously.[Preeti Khetwal v. Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd., 2019 SCC OnLine Utt 760, decided on 06-08-2019]
