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IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Circuit Bench At Jalpaiguri

The Hon’ble JusticPer eBsiesnwt:a roop Chowdhury

FMA 56 of 2025

The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd.

VERSUS

Sri Ranthu Tigga & Ors.

For the appellant: Mr. Rishin Chakraborty, Adv.

For the respondent Mr. Kishan Lal Lohia, Adv.

/Insurance

Mr. Satyaki Basu, Adv.

Company:

Mr. Durga Bagani, Adv.

Last Heard on: December 18, 2025

Judgment on: December 23, 2025

Biswaroop Chowdhury, J:

The Appellant before this Court was an opposite party in a claim case

under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 instituted by the respondent

no. 1 to 6 and is aggrieved by the Judgment and Award dated 27th day of

March 2024 passed by Learned Additional District Judge 1st Court Siliguri

Darjeeling in MAC Case No. 63 of 2010.

By Judgment and Award dated 27th day of March 2024 Learned Trial

Judge disposed the claim case by observing and directing as follows:

Hence it is ORDERED that the MAC Case be and the same is allowed on

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contest against the OP No. 4. Oriental Insurance Co.Ltd. and in ex-parte

against Op. No. 1 to 3.

The petitioners, 1. Ranthu Tigga, 2. Suchitra Tigga, 3. Sabita Tigga, 4,

Sushmita Tigga, 5. Sunita Tigga, 6. Master Subham Tigga do get just

compensation of Rs. 18,07,372/- (Rupees Eighteen lakh Seven thousand and

three Hundred and seventy two only) from the OP No-4 Oriental Insurance

Company Limited being the insurer of the offending vehicle being Regd. No.

WB-71-0023.

OP No. 4 Oriental Insurance Company Limited is directed to pay

compensation of Rs. 300,395/- to the petitioners No. 2 to 6 being the children

of the deceased and a sum of Rs. 3, 05,395/- to the petitioner No-1 Ranthu

Tigga husband of the deceased together with interest @ 6% Per annum from

date of filing ie. 03-07-2010 till payment to the petitioners by way of issuance

of six (6) A/C payee cheques of the said amounts in favour of the petitioners

within two months from the date of this order failing which the petitioner will

be at liberty to put the award into execution.’

The Appellant Insurance Company being aggrieved by the Judgment and

Award passed by the Learned Trial Court has come up with the instant appeal.

The grounds on which the Judgment of the Learned Trial Court is

assailed is that the offending vehicle was plying without a valid route permit

and fitness certificate and the charge sheet does not mention the permit

number and date of validity. Thus the Insurance Company is not liable to pay

the compensation.

Heard Learned Advocate for the Appellant and Learned Advocate, for the

respondent no. 1 to 6. Perused the evidence adduced and materials on record.

Learned Advocate for the Appellant submits that the Learned Trial Judge

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erred in directing the Appellant to pay compensation to the claimants when the

offending vehicle did not have valid permit. Learned Advocate further submits

that the Learned Trial Judge ought to have passed order to pay the claimants

and recover from the owner of offending vehicle. Learned Advocate also submits

that liberty be granted to the appellant to recover the compensation from owner

of offending vehicle.

Learned Advocate relies upon the following Judicial decision:-

Tirupati Construction VS Priya Arora Aand others.

Reported in 2024 ACJ. 1487.

Upon hearing the Learned Advocate and upon perusing the evidence

adduced it appears that the Appellant United India Insurance Company Ltd.

did not adduce any evidence either oral or documentary and the same is

observed by the Learned Trial Judge in the Judgment dated 27th day of March

2024. With regard to the submission of the Learned Advocate for the Appellant

Insurance Company that the permit of the offending vehicle was not valid no

argument was made before the trial Court in this regard secondly the Appellant

did not examine either the Officers of the Regional Transport Authority who

would have been competent to state as to whether the permit of the offending

vehicle was valid or not, neither the Appellant examined the owner of the

offending vehicle.

In the case of Nati