United India Insurance Co. Ltd., Branch Office, P.B. No. 97, Asheequa Tower, Narangapuram, Tellicherry vs P.T. Kumaran, K. Ramesh and T.M. Surendran

Ramakrishna Pillai, J.

The insurance company has come up in appeal challenging the award passed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Vadakara, awarding a compensation of Rs.1,02,957/- to the claimant. The insurance company, while admitting policy of the offending vehicle, had taken a contention that the driver of the offending vehicle, which was a transport vehicle, was not having valid licence to drive that particular class of vehicle at the time of the accident.

The accident was on 01/12/2002. The learned Tribunal, though found that the driver of the offending vehicle was not having a valid driving licence on the date of the accident, saddled the appellant insurance company with the liability of compensating the claimant. The contention raised in this appeal is that the learned Tribunal ought to have ordered recovery of the award amount by the appellant insurance company from the registered owner after effecting the payment to the claimant.

We have heard the submissions of the learned counsel for the appellant insurance company and the learned counsel for the respondent. We have also perused the impugned award.

On the side of the appellant insurance company, they have produced Ext.B1, which is the copy of the driving licence and badge and Ext.B2 which is the copy of the policy. Ext.B1 would go to show that the licence to drive transport vehicle expired on 07/06/2001. Hence, the driver of the offending vehicle was not authorised to drive a transport vehicle on /1/02/2002, i.e. the date of the accident. Admittedly, the vehicle involved in the accident was a taxi car. So, the learned Tribunal, while saddling the insurance company with the responsibility of paying the compensation, should have given them an opportunity to recover the same from the registered owner. As the award suffers from such an infirmity, we are of the view that the same has to be interfered with.

In the result, the appeal is allowed. While upholding the finding of the learned Tribunal that the appellant insurance company is liable to pay compensation, it is further directed that the appellant insurance company can recover the amount from the second respondent, who was the registered owner of the offending vehicle, after effecting the payment.