The insurance company is liable to pay compensation under S. 92-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 on the principle of no fault.

( 1 ) THE principal question that arises for decision in this petition is if the insurance company is liable to pay compensation in the cases mentioned under S. 92-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 (for short the Act ) on the principle of no fault. A motor vehicle accident on 16-2-1986 resulted in the death of Smt. Karma Wali. The vehicle involved in the accident was a two-wheeler scooter bearing registration No. DEO 5103. It was insured against third party risk with the National Insurance Company Limited, who is respondent No. 8 before me.

( 2 ) THE legal heirs of deceased Karma Wali numbering six, being. her husband and children, filed an application under Ss. 92a and 110a of the Act before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Delhi. There we re four respondents. First respondent was Ravi Kumar Dhooper, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, the second respondent was Smt. Santosh Kumari, owner of the vehicle, the third respondent was the insurance company in question, and the fourth respondent was again an heir of the deceased Karma Wali.

( 3 ) BY the impugned order, the learned Tribunal awarded a sum of. Rs. 15,000 as compensation under S. 92a of the Act and directed the same to be payable by the driver and owner of the vehicle. Both the driver and the owner have filed this petition challenging the order mainly on the ground that insurance company should have been made liable to pay the amount of the award. The learned Tribunal held that the driver was a minor at the time of the accident and could not hold a valid licence to drive the vehicle. There appears to be a dispute on this proposition. The learned Tribunal was, however, of the view that since a minor was not competent to hold a licence, the insurance company was not liable to pay interim compensation as in any case there was breach of the terms of the insurance policy which was a contract between a owner and the insurance company. In coming to this conclusion, the learned Tribunal relied on a decision of the Allahabad High Court in Baldeo Raj alias Kaka v. Deowati and Others

( 4 ) CHAPTER VII-A of the Act containing Ss. 92a to 92e was introduced in the Act by the Amending Act 47 of 1982 with effect from 1-10-1982. This Amending Act also made vital changes in Chapter VIII of the Act as well. Under S. 92a, in so far as it is relevant, where a person dies as a result of accident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle, the owner of the vehicle shall be liable to pay compensation in respect of such death [sub-s. (1)]. The amount of compensation as provided by sub-s. (2) is Rs. 15,000. To claim the compensation it is not required to plead and establish that the death in respect of which the claim has been made was due to any wrongful act, neglect or default of the owner of the vehicle or of any other person [sub-s. (3)]. Then, under sub-s, (4), a claim for compensation under sub-s. (1) shall not be defeated by reason of any wrongful act, neglect or default of the person in respect of whose death the claim has been made; nor shall the quantum of compensation recoverable in respect of such death be reduced on the basis of the share of such person in the responsibility of such death. I may note that S. 92a applies equally in case of permanent disablement resulting from an accident except that the amount of compensation would be Rs. 7,500. Under sub-s. (1) of S. 92b, again in so far as it is relevant to present controversy, the right to claim compensation under S. 92a shall be in addition to any other right (referred to as the right on the principle of fault) to claim compensation in respect of death under any other provision of the Act or of any other law for the time being in force. Sub-s. (2) of this section requires that a claim for compensation has to be disposed of expeditiously. . Then, sub-s. (3) is as under:-

" (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where in respect of the death or permanent disablement of any p