The central legal point established in the judgment is that a driver must possess an appropriate licence to drive a specific type of vehicle, and the breach of insurance policy terms can lead to the avoidance of liability by the insurance company.

G.P. Mittal, J.

The question for determination in this Appeal is whether the deceased driver of the tempo No. DL-IM-1000 (which was a Medium Goods Vehicle) can drive the said vehicle with a licence for a Light Motor Vehicle which he possessed. In other words, whether there was breach of the terms of the policy by the owner of the vehicle (Respondent No. 6) by allowing the deceased to drive a Medium Goods Vehicle (MGV) who had a licence to drive LMV and thus, the Appellant Insurance Company could avoid the liability. A Claim Petition u/s 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (the Act) preferred by Respondents No. 1 to 5 was converted into one u/s 163-A of the Act. According to the allegations made in the Claim Petition, on 23.09.2005 at about 5:15 P.M., the deceased Shiv Mangal Pandey while driving vehicle No. DL-IM-1000 was returning from Mawana to Delhi. One Ram Kumar was also present in the vehicle (Tata 1109 weighing 10,500 kg.). When the deceased while driving the earlier said vehicle reached the Delhi Road near Kishan Petrol Pump, a vehicle carrying husk appeared suddenly and tried to overtake their vehicle from the wrong side. The deceased Shiv Mangal Pandey tried to avoid collision with the aforementioned vehicle. In the process, he lost control and collided with the central divider. The vehicle turned turtle. Shiv Mangal Pandey suffered injuries which proved fatal. SHO, Police Station Niwari, District Ghaziabad, U.P. was informed about the accident.

2. The Claims Tribunal on the basis of the deceased's income (Rs. 3,300/- per month) awarded a compensation of Rs. 5,11,000/- including the compensation under non pecuniary heads.

3. By an order dated 14.05.2009 notice was ordered to be issued only with regard to the recovery rights against the insured (the owner of the vehicle involved in the accident), I am not to go into the question of negligence and the quantum of compensation.

4. Both the parties do not dispute that the vehicle No. DL-1M-1000 involved in the accident had a gross weight of 10,500 kg. The same is proved by Form No. 47 as also through the policy of insurance Ex.R1W1/1 and registration Certificate Ex.R2W2/D which shows that the unladen weight of the vehicle is 10,500 kg. Thus, in view of Sections 2(16), 2(21) and 2(23) of the Act which define Heavy Goods Vehicle, Light Motor Vehicle and Medium Goods Vehicle respectively, the vehicle in question was a Medium Goods Vehicle.

5. The Claims Tribunal while awarding a compensation of Rs. 5,11,000/- declined recovery rights against the Respondent No. 6 on the ground that the witness examined by the Appellant Insurance Company could not state as to whether the driver holding a licence to drive LMV could drive a Medium Goods Vehicle or not and thus held that breach of the policy condition was not established and therefore the Appellant was not entitled to recovery rights against Respondent No. 6.

6. It is urged by the learned counsel for the Appellant that the Claims Tribunal erred in relying on the opinion of R2W1 that "I cannot say whether the driver could drive the medium motor vehicle with the present DL."

7. In view of the clear distinction between a Light Motor Vehicle and a Medium Goods Vehicle, it was incumbent on the driver to possess an appropriate licence to drive a Medium Goods Vehicle.

8. On the other hand, it is urged by the learned counsel for Respondent No. 6 that distinction was abolished in different types of transport vehicles and anybody holding a licence to drive a transport vehicle could drive any vehicle. Both the counsels place reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Angad Kol and Others, (2009) 11 SCC 356.

9. For clarity it would be fruitful to extract Section 2(21) of the Act which defines Light Motor Vehicles (LMV).

2 (21) "light motor vehicle" means a transport vehicle or omnibus the gross vehicle weight of either of which or a motor car or tractor or road-roller the unladen weight of any of which,