JUDGMENT :

1. This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (as amended) (hereinafter referred to as the Act, in short) is directed against the judgment and award dated 15.06.2012 passed by the Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Kamrup, Guwahati (hereinafter referred to as the Claims Tribunal, in short) in MAC Case No. 520/2007. By the judgment and award dated 15.06.2012, the Claims Tribunal had directed the appellant-insurer of the vehicle bearing registration No. AS-01/Z-7871 to pay an amount of Rs. 15,52,000/- along with interest @ 6 % per annum from the date of filing of the claim application i.e. 09.03.2007 till payment to the respondents-claimants.

2. In order to appreciate the issues involved in this appeal, it is necessary to state the relevant facts. On 05.12.2006, one Dwijen Chandra Goswami (the deceased) was proceeding in a scooter from Baligaon ASEB Divisional Office to Jorhat. As he reached J.B. Chariali on National Highway 37, all of a sudden, a Tata Indica car bearing registration No. AS-01/Z-7871 (hereinafter is also referred to as the Indica, for convenience), coming from Guwahati side and driven in a rash and negligent manner, hit the scooter of the deceased. As a result of the impact, the deceased sustained grievous injuries and died on the same day in the JDS Civil Hospital, Jorhat where he was taken immediately after the accident. Contending that the Indica was the offending vehicle, a claim application under Section 166 of the Act was filed by the legal representatives of the deceased before the Claims Tribunal on 09.03.2007 seeking compensation for the death of the deceased in an accident arising out of use of motor vehicle. Out of the three claimants, the claimant No. 1 is the wife of the deceased while the claimant No. 2 and the claimant No. 3 are the minor daughter and the minor son respectively of the deceased. The insurer, the owner and the driver of the Indica vehicle were impleaded as opposite party No. 1, opposite party No. 2 and opposite party No. 3 respectively in the claim application. The said claim application was registered and numbered as MAC Case No. 520/2007.

3. On receipt of notices from the Claims Tribunal, all the opposite parties appeared and filed their written statements separately. The owner-insured in his written statement while denying the averments made in the claim application, had contended that on the day of the accident on 05.12.2006, the Indica was duly insured under a valid and effective policy of insurance and as such, the owner was not liable to pay any compensation to the claimants as he was entitled to be indemnified by the insurer of the vehicle. The driver had also denied the contentions made in the claim application through the written statement filed by him and had specifically averred that the accident did not take place due to rash and negligent driving on his part. It was contended that it was the deceased who entered the main road from the by-lane in his scooter suddenly and having seen the scooter, he pressed the brake of the Indica but the brake did not work at that time and as a result, the accident took place. The insurer of the vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as the appellant-insurer and/or the appellant), in its written statement, had admitted that the Indica bearing registration No. AS-01/Z-7971, at the relevant time, was covered by a policy of insurance issued by it. It was further contended that the insurer was not liable to pay any compensation until and unless it was proved that the driver had a valid driving licence and the terms and conditions of the insurance policy were duly followed by the owner-insured.

4. On the basis of the pleadings made by the parties, the Claims Tribunal framed the following issues for adjudication :-

(1) Whether the victim, Dwijen Ch. Goswami, died as a result of the injuries sustained in the alleged road accident dated 05.12.2006 involving vehicle No. AS-01/Z-7871 and whether the said accident too