The main legal point established in the judgment is the liability of the insurance company under a comprehensive policy in case of injury or death of the owner/driver/occupant of a vehicle, as well as the assessment of negligence and compensation under various heads.

JUDGMENT

Harkesh Manuja, J. -

CM-891-CII-2018 in FAO-287-2018

1. This is an application seeking condonation of delay of 9 days in filing the appeal.

2. For the reasons mentioned in the application, which is supported by an affidavit, sufficient cause has been shown for condoning the delay on account of transition of file at different places, thus, the same is allowed and delay of 9 days in filing the appeal is condoned.

CM-890-CII-2018 in FAO-287-2018

3. This is an application seeking condonation of delay of 8 days in re-filing the appeal.

4. For the reasons mentioned in the application, which is supported by an affidavit, sufficient cause has been shown for condoning the delay, thus, the same is allowed and delay of 8 days in re-filing the appeal is condoned.

CM-9888-CII-2018 in FAO-2689-2018

This is an application seeking condonation of delay of 176 days in filing the appeal.

5. For the reasons mentioned in the application, which is supported by an affidavit, sufficient cause has been shown for condoning the delay on account of ill-health of the mother of the deceased, thus, the same is allowed and delay of 176 days in filing the appeal is condoned.

MAIN CASE:

6. This order of mine shall dispose of two appeals bearing FAO No. 287 of 2018 titled as National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs Sajalpreet Kaur and others (filed by Insurance Company for setting aside the award) and another bearing FAO No. 2689 of 2018 titled as Sajalpreet Kaur and others Vs. National Insurance Co. Ltd. and others (filed by claimants/appellants for enhancement of compensation).

For convenience, the facts are taken from FAO No. 287 of 2018 i.e. the appeal filed on behalf of the Insurance Company.

7. Brief facts of the case are that on 12.06.2014, deceased Gurpreet Singh was travelling with respondent No.6 / driver Satnam Singh in car bearing registration number PB-11-BG-8867 (hereinafter referred as offending vehicle) when it struck against a pillar and Gurpreet Singh succumbed to his injuries. DDR regarding this incident was registered at police station Lahori Gate, Patiala by respondent No.6 / driver Satnam Singh. Vehicle in question was owned by Dharminder Kaur, who also happens to be the wife of deceased.

8. A claim petition was filed on behalf of the dependants of deceased, including her wife Dharminder Kaur, before the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Patiala (in brevity, 'the Tribunal') seeking compensation on account of death of Gurpreet Singh. Learned Tribunal in view of the statement of CW2-Saleem Khan, who was eye-witness to the accident, held that accident was caused due to the rash and negligent driving of respondent No.6 / driver, especially considering the fact that he never appeared before the learned Tribunal to record his statement. Further, on the basis of documentary proof of pay slip of deceased, corroborated by the testimony of CW3- Dinesh Mehta, learned Tribunal assessed his monthly income at the rate Rs. 70,109/- per month and awarded compensation in the following manner:

9. One of the grounds taken by the appellant/ Insurance Company before learned Tribunal was that in this case, wife of deceased was also a claimant, while being owner of the offending vehicle she should have been respondent in the present case. In this context, learned Tribunal held that initially, an application was made on her behalf, for deletion of her name as claimants and for impleading her as respondent, however that application was dismissed by the learned Tribunal as it was presented at the fag end of the case. It was further held that though wife/owner was not dependent upon deceased, however claimants who were the children of deceased, being legal representatives as well as dependents, were entitled to get compensation on account of his death in road accident.

10. It is the said award