The main legal point established in the judgment is that an insurer may file an appeal only on the grounds specified in section 149 (2) of the Motor Vehicles Act and must obtain permission in writing from the Tribunal as ruled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

DEVI PRASAD SINGH and V.D. CHATURVEDI, JJ.--This is an appeal filed under section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short 'the Act') against the award of Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. Learned Counsel for the appellant has assailed the impugned award under the appeal.

2. However, learned Counsel for the respondents has raised a preliminary objection that the present appeal is not maintainable as no permission under section 170 of the Act was obtained from the learned Tribunal.

3. To the preliminary objection raised by the learned Counsel for the respondents, learned Counsel for the appellant submitted that he has assailed the impugned award on various grounds and for those permission is not required.

4. We have heard learned Counsel for the parties at length and perused the record. Learned Counsel for the respondents has relied upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Nicolletta Rohatgi and others.1 In the case of Necolletta Rohatgi (supra), it can be filed only on the grounds mentioned in the statute. Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the appeal shall be maintainable only on other grounds specified in section 149 (2) of the Act subject to fulfillment of the conditions specified in section 170 of the Act.

1. 2003 (3) TAC 293 (SC)=2003 (21) LCD 182 (SC).

5. The relevant portion from the judgment of Nicolletta Rohatgi.(supra) is reproduced as under:

"16. For the abovesaid reasons, we are of the view that the statutory defences which are available to the insurer to contest a claim are confined to what are provided in sub-section (2) of section 149 of 1988 Act and not more and for that reason if an insurer is to file an appeal, the challenge in the appeal would confine to only those grounds.

19. In Shankarayya and another v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd. and another,2 it was held that an insurance company when impleaded as a party by the Court can be permitted to contest the proceedings on merits only if the conditions precedent mentioned in section 170 are found to be satisfied and for that purpose the insurance company has to obtain an order in writing from the Tribunal and which should be a reasoned order by the Tribunal. Unless this procedure is followed, the insurance company cannot have a wider defence on merits than what is available to it by way of statutory defences. In absence of the existence of the conditions precedent mentioned in section 170, the insurance company was not entitled to file an appeal on merits questioning the quantum of compensation.

2. 1998 (3) SCC 140.

25. We have earlier noticed that motor vehicle accident claim is a tortuous claim directed against tort feasors who are the insured and the driver of the vehicle and the insllrer comes to the scene as a result of statutory liability created under the Motor Vehicles Act. The Legislature has ensured by enacting section 149 of the Act that the victims of motor vehicle are fully compensated and protected. It is for that reason the insurer cannot escape from its liability to pay compensation on any exclusionary clause in the insurance policy except those specified in section 149 (2) of the Act or where the condition precedent specified in section 170 is satisfied.

26. For the aforesaid reasons, an insurer if aggrieved against an award, may file an appeal only on those grounds and no other. However, by virtue of section 170 of the 1988 Act, where in course of an enquiry the Claims Tribunal is satisfied that (a) there is a collusion between the person making a claim and the person against whom the claim has been made or (b) the person against whom the claim has been made has failed to contest the claim, the tribunal may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, implead the insurer and in that case it is permissible for the insurer to contest the claim also on the grounds which are available to the insured or to the person against whom the claim has been made. Thus, unless an order is passed by the tribunal permitting