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NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:10622

1 MA-1268-2004

IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH

AT JABALPUR

BEFORE

HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE ANURADHA SHUKLA

th

ON THE 5 OF FEBRUARY, 2026

MISC. APPEAL No. 1268 of 2004

ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMP.LTD.

Versus

RAMESH PRASAD RAIKWAR & ANR AND OTHERS

Appearance:

Shri Rohit Jain - Advocate for the appellant.

Shri Kapil Patwardhan and Ms. Shobhna Koshta - Advocates for

respondent no.1.

Reserved on : 22.01.2026

Pronounced on: 05.02.2026

ORDER

Appellant-insurance company is aggrieved of the award dated

28.01.2004 passed in Motor Accident Claim Case No.221/2001 by the Motor

Accident Claims Tribunal, Satna (for short, "the Tribunal") in allowing

Rs.55,000/- along with interest and cost as compensation in favour of

respondent no.1-claimant.

2. Brief facts are that on 10.03.2001 respondent no.1-claimant was walking

down with Kunwarlal to his village Pawaiya when they both were hit by a

Commander Jeep bearing registration no.MP-19-A-9248 whose driver was

driving it rashly and negligently. It was claimed that respondent no.1-

claimant sustained grievous injuries and permanent disability on account of

accident and, therefore, a claim petition for Rs.19,09,000/- was filed which

Signature Not Verified

Signed by: PRASHANT

SHRIVASTAVA

Signing time: 06-02-2026

16:44:36

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:10622

2 MA-1268-2004

was partially allowed by the Tribunal.

3. Appellant-insurance company contested the claim by questioning the

accident itself. According to it, the name of vehicle which caused accident

could not be ascertained despite detailed investigation and, therefore, a

closure report was filed by police regarding the FIR lodged with respect to

the alleged accident. Same are the contentions of appellant before this

appellate court and it is submitted that under a collusion between respondent

no.1-claimant and respondent no.2, the owner of vehicle, the claim petition

was filed with manipulative implant of his vehicle in the accident.

4. Appeal is strongly contested by respondent no.1-claimant.

5. Counsel for both the parties have been heard and record of the Tribunal

has been examined.

6. A bare perusal of claim petition itself reflects that respondent no.1-

claimant was well aware of the fact that no final charge-sheet in the alleged

accident case was filed by the police, as para 5 of claim petition makes an

admission to the fact that a closure report was filed by police. It is strange

that despite being a victim of an alleged criminal act of rash and negligent

driving, respondent no.1-claimant did not prefer any complaint case before a

criminal court. If the wrongdoer of a criminal act was ascertained, it was

expected of the victim of said act to file a criminal complaint particularly

when police was not taking any action against that wrongdoer. Instead of

taking that measure, respondent no.1-claimant chose to file only a case for

damages for tortuous act and this inaction makes his claim petition

questionable.

Signature Not Verified

Signed by: PRASHANT

SHRIVASTAVA

Signing time: 06-02-2026

16:44:36

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:10622

3 MA-1268-2004

7. From the record of criminal case it is revealed that police was informed

on 11.03.2001 regarding the accident which occurred on 10.03.2001 and the

FIR against an unknown driver of Commander Jeep was registered on

13.03.2001. Ex.P-3 is the closure report dated 24.12.2001 and it makes it

clear that by the time it was prepared, the unknown driver was not traced and

even the registration number of offending vehicle could not be ascertained.

In terms of these facts the statements of alleged eyewitness of accident,

namely Ramcharan Singh (A.W.3), become highly unreliable wherein he

claims that he was in acquaintance with respondent no.1-claimant and had

noted the registration number of offending vehicle while witnessing the

accident. He further claims that the registration number of offending vehicle

was communicated to the father of respondent no.1-claimant. Another

eyewitness Ashok Singh (A.W.6) is th