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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH

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106 FAO-339-2026 (O&M)

Date of Decision.:30.01.2026

United India Insurance Co. Ltd. …..Appellant

Vs.

Charanjit Kaur and Others .….Respondents

CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEEPAK GUPTA

Present:- Mr. Varun Mi(cid:16)al, Advocate

for the appellant.

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DEEPAK GUPTA, J. (ORAL)

Naib Singh lost his life in a motor vehicular accident, which

occurred on 19.10.2023. His widow and children filed a claim pe))on

under Sec)on 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 seeking compensa)on

from the driver, owner and insurer of the offending vehicle. The learned

Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, a0er apprecia)ng the pleadings and

evidence, vide award dated 08.04.2025, allowed compensa)on to the tune

of ₹13,43,144/-, payable jointly and severally by all the three respondents,

along with interest.

2. Aggrieved against the said award, it is the insurer of the

offending vehicle, which has preferred the present appeal.

3. The appeal is accompanied by an applica)on bearing CM-1553-

CII-2025 under Sec)on 5 of the Limita)on Act, seeking condona)on of

delay of 200 days in filing the appeal.

4. In the applica)on, it is pleaded that a0er obtaining the

cer)fied copy of the award, legal advice was rendered on 18.04.2025 to

challenge the award on the ground of contributory negligence. The file was

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therea0er marked to the counsel. However, on account of incomplete

record, the counsel is stated to have sent repeated reminders. Ul)mately,

the file was supplied only on 30.10.2025, wherea0er an opinion was given

to challenge the award. The competent authority approved filing of the

appeal on 18.11.2025. It is further pleaded that the counsel could not

prepare the appeal immediately as his mother had undergone certain

surgeries. On these premises, it is asserted that the delay of 200 days is

uninten)onal. The applica)on is supported by an affidavit of Gursharan

Singh, Administra)ve Officer (Legal) of the appellant-company.

5. A careful perusal of the applica)on itself, however, reveals that

the legal advice to file the appeal was admi(cid:16)edly available as early as

18.04.2025, yet the complete record was not supplied to the counsel )ll

30.10.2025. The delay of more than six months in forwarding the record

has remained unexplained except for vague asser)ons. The explana)on

offered discloses a clear case of negligence, inac)on and lackadaisical

approach on the part of the officials of the appellant-company.

6. It is well se(cid:16)led that internal administra)ve lapses, casual

approach and procedural red-tape cannot cons)tute “sufficient cause”

within the meaning of Sec)on 5 of the Limita)on Act. In the absence of a

bona fide and cogent explana)on covering the en)re period of delay, the

appellant is not en)tled to the discre)onary relief of condona)on.

7. Accordingly, the applica)on seeking condona)on of delay of

200 days is dismissed.

8. Ordinarily, dismissal of the applica)on under Sec)on 5 of the

Limita)on Act would entail dismissal of the appeal as barred by limita)on.

However, even if the appeal is examined on merits, this Court

substance therein.

9. The sole conten)on raised by learned counsel for the appellant

is that the deceased himself contributed to the occurrence of the accident

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and that the learned Tribunal erred in not holding the deceased guilty of

contributory negligence.

10. A perusal of the award shows that the learned Tribunal has

elaborately dealt with the manner of accident. As per the pleadings and

evidence, the deceased Naib Singh was driving truck No. PB-03-AP-0629.

Owing to a puncture, he had parked the truck on the extreme le0 side of

the road and was in the process of changing the tyre. At that )me, the

offending truck came at a high speed, being driven rashly and negligently,

struck against Naib Singh, and the front tyre of the offending vehicle ran

over him, as a result of which