Non-possession of a valid driving licence does not absolve the insurance company from its liability to pay compensation to a third party involved in a road accident.

1. The present appeal has been filed by the insurance company, challenging the award dated 03.02.2009 made in M.C.O.P.No.115 of 2006 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Sub Court, Udumalpet.

2. Respondents 1 to 4 are the claimants before the Tribunal. The first respondent is the wife of the deceased, second, third and fourth respondents are the children of the deceased. The fifth respondent is the owner of the vehicle involved in the accident and the sixth respondent is the driver of the vehicle.

3. It is the case of the claimants before the Tribunal that on 04.11.2004 at about 12.30 p.m., while the deceased R. Krishnasamy was riding his TVS Champ bearing registration No. TN 41 09339, from east to west direction on Udumalpet Palani Main Road, and when he was nearing the petrol bunk, a Bajaj Boxer Bike, bearing Registration No. TN-41 X 3859, belonging to the fifth respondent and driven by the sixth respondent and insured with the appellant insurance company, came in a rash and negligent manner from the opposite direction and dashed against the deceased, due to which, the deceased sustained multiple injuries all over the body. He was immediately taken to the Government hospital, Udumalpet, where he was given first aid. As the injuries were very fatal, he was directed to the Coimbatore Government Hospital for intensive treatment. However, he died on 05.11.2004. Hence, respondents 1 to 4 made a claim as against the insurance company and the fifth and the sixth respondents, claiming a sum of Rs.10,00,000/- as compensation.

4. The said claim was resisted by the insurance company contending that the rider of the Bajaj Boxer Bike bearing Registration No. TN-41 X 3859, insured with the insurance company, did not have valid driving licence to drive the vehicle and he has violated the terms and conditions of the policy. Therefore, the insurance company is not liable to pay the compensation amount. That apart, the insurance company has also taken a defence that the amount of Rs.10,00,000/-claimed by the claimants is extremely on the higher side and the same requires reduction.

5. In order to prove the claim, the first claimant, the wife of the deceased examined herself as P.W.1, besides examining one Rajasekaran as P.W.2 and Dhamodharan as P.W.3 and marked 12 documents as Exs.P.1 to P.12. On the side of the insurance company, one Krishnakumar was examined as R.W.1 and 3 documents were marked as Exs.X.1 to X.3.

6. The Tribunal after analysing the entire evidence, both oral and documentary, has come to the conclusion that the accident was the result of rash and negligent driving of the rider of the vehicle bearing Registration No. TN-41 X 3859, insured with the insurance company and thus, fixed the liability on the part of the insurance company to pay the compensation amount. By coming to such a conclusion, the Tribunal has calculated the compensation on different heads and passed an award for a total sum of Rs.3,57,000/-. Aggrieved over the same, the present appeal has been filed.

2. The learned counsel for the appellant Insurance Company submitted that on two grounds, the award of the Tribunal is liable to be quashed. Firstly, the pay and recovery aspect has not been specifically ordered, and the Tribunal has shifted the responsibility on the appellant to pay and recover the compensation from the owner and driver of the vehicle, being the 5th and 6th respondents, in case the 5th respondent fails to prove that the 6th respondent herein possessed a valid licence on the date of the accident. Secondly, since the age of the deceased was 50 years at the time of accident, 11 multiplier ought to have been applied in view of the tabular statement at paragraph No.40 of the Judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court reported in 2009(6) SCC 121 (Sarla Verma (Smt.) and Others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another), however, the Tribunal has taken 13 as multiplier for arriving at the compensation and hence, according to the learned