IMPORTANT POINT
The main legal point established in the judgment is the liability of the Insurance Company to pay compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act and the requirement to prove the validity of the driving license.

1. Appellant-Oriental Insurance Company has filed the present appeal, under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘MV Act’) against award, dated 4th September, 2015, passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (I), Kangra at Dharamshala, H.P. (hereinafter referred to as ‘learned MACT’).

2. By way of the award, dated 4 th September, 2015, the learned MACT has allowed MACP No. 30-K/11/15/2007, titled as Sunni Devi and others versus Shri Bishan Singh Parmar and others, and awarded a sum of Rs. 16,53,466/- alongwith interest @ 7.5% per annum, from the date of filing of the claim petition, till the date of actual payment, in the following terms:

“In the light of my aforesaid findings on the aforesaid issues for determination the petition of the petitioners against the respondents succeeds and is hereby allowed with costs with pending and future interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of petition till the date of actual payment and a total amount of compensation of Rs. 16,53,466/- (Rs. Sixteen lacs fifty three thousand four hundred and sixty six only) is hereby awarded to the petitioners inclusive of the interim compensation on account of no fault liability. If interim compensation is already paid under section 140 of Motor Vehicles Act, then the same shall be deducted at the time of final payment.

The petitioner No. 2 is wife of the deceased and, therefore, she is entitled to 40% amount of the total compensation amount along with proportionate interest. The petitioner No. 1 being mother of the deceased shall be entitled to 10% of the total amount of compensation with proportionate interest. The remaining amount shall be shared by petitioners No. 3 and 4 to the extent of equal shares. Since the petitioners No. 3 and 4 are minors, therefore, the amount of compensation of their shares shall be invested in FDRs in some Nationalized bank till they attain age of majority. Fifty percent amount of the share of the petitioner No. 2 shall also be invested in some Nationalized bank for a period of three years and the remaining fifty percent share of compensation of the petitioner No. 2 shall be released to her in cash for day to day expenses. So far as the compensation awarded to petitioner No. 1 is concerned, the entire amount of her share shall be released to her in cash because of her old age. Memo of costs be prepared accordingly. The file after doing the needful be consigned to the record room.”

3. In terms of the said award, the ultimate liability to pay the amount of compensation, alongwith up-to-date interest, has been fastened upon the appellant-Insurance Company.

4. For the sake of convenience, the parties to the lis, are hereinafter referred to, in the same manner, as, were referred to, by the learned MACT.

5. Brief facts, leading to the filing of the present appeal, before this Court, may be summed up, as under:

5.1. Petitioners, being the legal representatives of deceased-Feni Ram Bhardwaj, have filed the petition, under Section 166 of the MV Act, seeking compensation, on account of death of Feni Ram Bhardwaj, against the respondents, being the owner (respondent No. 1), driver (respondent No. 2) and insurer (respondent No. 3) of the vehicle No. RJ-22G-1185 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the offending vehicle’).

5.2. The claim petition has been filed, on the ground, that on 23rd November, 2006, Feni Ram was driving a truck, which was on its way, from Bhiwandi to Rajasthan, alongwith another truck, being driven by respondent No. 2. Both the trucks were stopped at Valsad Sugar Factory, as, the drivers wanted to take tea. After taking tea, respondent No. 2 had started the offending vehicle and Feni Ram, who was trying to sit in his truck, was hit by the offending vehicle, which was being driven by respondent No. 2, in a rash and negligent manner, due to which, Feni Ram came under the rear wheel of the offending truck and sustained injuries. He was taken to Valsad Kasturba Hospital