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HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU
RAJNESH OSWAL, J
Viniak Sharma S/o Shri Moul Raj Sharma – Appellant
Versus
United India Insurance Company Jammu – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
1. The appellant had earlier filed an appeal against the award dated 30.07.2008 passed by the learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Jammu (for short the "Tribunal‟) in claim petition titled “Mst. Gulshan Afroz vs. Dharam Pal and others and Mohd. Sadiq Dar vs. Dharampal and others” which was dismissed by the Court vide judgment dated 06.12.2016.
2. The appellant being aggrieved of the same preferred SLP before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India set-aside the judgment dated 06.12.2016 vide order dated 10.05.2024 passed in SLP No. 1392-1393/2018 and remanded the matter back to the High Court. This is how this appeal has come up for consideration afresh before this Court.
3. In fact, this case has a chequered history, as earlier the learned Tribunal vide award dated 08.05.1995 directed the respondent No. 1 to satisfy the award. The respondent No. 1 preferred an appeal and the matter came to be remanded back to the learned Tribunal vide order dated 22.11.2002 to determine the liability of owner and driver, as it was contended by the respondent No.1 that the license of the driver was fake. The learned Tribunal vide its award dated 30.07.2
The owner of a vehicle is not liable for damages if they reasonably believed the driver's license was valid, and the burden of proof lies with the Insurance Company to demonstrate otherwise.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the owner's satisfaction with the driver's competence to drive the vehicle shifts the onus to the Insurance Company to prove any breach of the....
The insurance company must prove the wilful breach on the part of the vehicle owner, and the mere fact of the driving license being fake does not absolve the insurer from liability.
The central legal point established in the judgment is the onus on the insurer to prove the owner's lack of adequate care and caution in verifying the genuineness of the driver, and the expected dili....
Insurance companies cannot evade liability for third-party claims solely due to a driver’s lack of valid license; they must prove the owner's negligence to avoid statutory obligations.
Point of law : Liability of an insurer to reimburse the insured, as an owner of the vehicle not only depends upon the terms and conditions laid down in the contract of insurance but also the provisio....
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the insurance company is liable to indemnify the claimants unless it can be proved that the insured was aware of the fake license and still pe....
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