i%- & HON'BLE IN THE HIGH COURT OF GHHATriSHGARH AT BILASPUR IVI.A.(C)No.- ^113 /o^- APPELLANT THE ORIENTALmSURANCE CO. LTD., THROUGH DIVISIONAL MANAGER , DIVISIONAL OFFICE NO.-l, THE ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO. LTD., JAIL ROAD, RAIPUR, DISTT- RAIPUR C.G. ^ iiri ISS111! KEiii RESPONDENTS ^d^" ,..\^£S^ ^^tffF--" Vrs. :-1. (ffAFAR ALI AGE ABOUT 22 YRS. S/0 LATEASGAR ALI, 2. ^U.RAHIMA D/0 LATE ASGARALI AGE ABOUT 12 YRS. iV. RESHMA D/0 LATE ASGAR ALI AGE ABOUT 10 YRS. SW."^''-%^7..-"" RESPONDENT NO.-2 & 3, MINOR, THKOUGH sgftisd^ f£j..&-^}"" LEGALREPRESENTATIVEELDERBROTHER »Ae«-"y" ' JAFARALI, RESPONDENt NO.-l PRESENT ADDRESS OF RESPONDENT NO.-l TO 3, IS TIKARAPARA RAlPUR DISTT.- RAIPDR C.G. 4. ySANJAY KCMAR S/0 BANWARI fiAL SAHU, <? R/0 CAMP -2, BAIKUNTH NAGAR, BHILAI, POLICE THANA - CHHAWANI, DISTT.- DURG C.G. APTEALLUNDERSECTION 173 OF MOTOR yEHICLE ACT 1988 ^ llt;!! r 13 1h£ • ?<1 <a ^! Bl al HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH: BILASPUR D.B.: Hon'ble Shri I. M. Quddusi & Hon'ble Shri Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, JJ. Appellant Respondents AReellant Respondents WI.A.(C)No.711of2007 The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. Versus Aganu and others M.A.(C)No.713of2007 The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. Versus Jafar Ali and others [Appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988] Present: - M.A.(C)No.711of2Q07 Shri Sudhir Agrawal, counsel for the appellant. Shri S. C. Verma, counsel for respondents No.1 & 2. Shri Amiya Kant Tiwari, counsel for respondent No.3. M.A.(C)No.713of2007 Shri Sudhir Agrawal, counsel for the appellant. None for respondents, though served. ORDER(ORALt (Passed on this 28th day ofApril,2011) Per I.M. QUDDUSI 1. This order shall govern M.A.(C) No.711 of2007 and M.A.(C) No.713 of 2007. ,, - 2. The aforesaid two appeals have been filed by the Insurance Company against the impugned award dated 24-03-2007 passed by the Xth Additional Motor Accjdent Claims Tribunal, Raipur (hereinafter referred to as "the Tribunal") in Motor Accident Claim Case No.78/2006 & 82/2006 in so far as it relates to its liability part only. (;i!f •spoo6 iei|t p SJSUMO ejSM sjsSusssed sqi pUB uoitsanb ui SIOILIBA 8i|i 01 |SABJ} 0} spoo6 341 io JSUMO sq} pue spoo6 eLuos peo| 0} p8MO||e JSAUp eqi (eqt sssuijM-sAe Aue ^o souspiAS sqi 01 aiuoo (ou seq t| /7 'psuiLuexs iou OS|B SBM 'psjnfui pue aiojqeA eqtp luednooo SBM OL|M 'uosjsd j3L|}0 Aue OS|B SB psuiLuexs )ou SBM 'uoiissnb ui SIOILJSA aqt p s)UBdnooo siil.io suo pue SssuiiM sAa ue SBM oqM ''y'rd 84) jo -isqyos siji }BI|I puno^ pue pjooaj pnoo JSMO| sqi pssmed pue ssiijed aq( joj Buuesdde issunoo psujesi pjeaq aAeq SM / •uQ!)!ied siijleouai-i -PJBMB piessjo^e 3L|) jo luaLuAed jo^ siqeii AuediuoQ BOUBjnsu|-}ue||adde sq} Buipioq 'gooz P ZS'ON sseQ LUIBIO U! -/000'1.0't''sy pue 9002 i0 8^.'ON SSBQ LUIBJO ui spesq snoueA japun -/000'9Z't''sy ya uoiiesuadLuoo p pieiwe ue joj ps|t!ius si lueLuieio ei|) (eqi piay pjoosj uo oouspiAS 84} pue uojienijs S)OBJ sy} 0} pjeBaj BUIABL) |eunquj. SLUIEIQ psujes-| •g •spB9L| snoyBAjspun -/ooo'se'9'sy .10 uoiiesusduioo |BIOI e ^o PJBME jo^ 9361. 'PV ssis'MSA JO}0|/\] 041 ^o 991. uo!i3S9 jspun uojiitsd uiiep e peiy stUBiuiBp 941 'QOOZ/ZS'ON sseo LUIBIQ apiA 'S •\ •spesq snouBA jspun -/OOO'SS'S'sy io uoiiesueduioo |B}OI e ^o PJBMB JOj 8861. 'PV ssioiqsA J0)o|ft| aqi ^o gg). uoipas jspun uoiisad LUIB|O e pa|y SIUBLUIBIO sq} .'900Z/8Z"ON SSBQ IUIBIO spiA •fr •peip jeiun» tisefey eiojqsA spoo6 eAoqe ^o jsMJp os|e pue ujn6eg eui^es 'POUIA 'iuspiooe siqt v - .. -. .... . .^ 0} onppue JSAU SL|} ui u/wop iis^ jopEi9|/\| puepsjjnooo lusppoe 'JSAiy epsqusqLio ys 6uiujn} 941 ui BuiAup lusBiiBsu pue qsej 01 snp 'e-d S Z-d'X3 'yi'd J9d se £^1.0 -O-Z-'O'O'ON uoiiejisiBsy Buuesq jope}S]^ 'sioiqsA spooB Aq !E]!49 0} jndueAejeN iuo4 BUILUOO SJSM suosjsd jaqio OS|B se Lun6sg BUDJBS 'POUIA pssesosp SL|) ''vi'd 01 inoqe }B 'QOOZ-ZO-frZ uo (64) sje sseo SL|I ^o S)OB^Isug •£ 8 Before proceeding further it is necessary to peruse the relevant provisions of .law, which are quoted herein below i.e. Section 169 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Rule 226 of the Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh Motor Vehicles Rules, "169. Procedure and powers of Claims Tribunals. - (1) In holding any inquiry under section 168, the Claims Tribunal may, subj'ect to any rules that may be made in this behalf, follow such summary procedure as it thinks fit. (2) The Claims Tribunal shall have all the powere of a Civil Court for the purpose of taking evidence on oath and of enforcing the attendance of witnesses and of compelling the djscovery and production of documents and material obj'ects and for such other purposes as may be prescribed; and the Claims Tribunal shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for all the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974). (3) Subject to any rules that may be made in this behalf, the Claims Tribunal may, for the purpose of adjudicating upon any claim for compen'sation, choose one or more persons possessing special knowledge of and matter relevant to the inquiry to assist it in holding the inquiry." 226. OBTAINING OF INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR AWARDING COMPENSATION UNDER SECTION 40-. The Claims Tribunal shall obtain whatever information and documents which may be found necessary from the police, Medical and other authorities and proceed to award the claim whether the parties who were given notice, appear or not, on the appointed date. ^ 9 Hon'ble Supreme Court in Raj Kumar Vs. Ajay Kumar & another { 2010 (12) SCALE} in para 11 has held that "The Tribunal should not be a silent spectator when medical evidence is tendered in regard to the injuries and their effect, in particular the extent ofpennanent disability. Sections 168 and 169 of the Act make it evident that the Tribunal does not function as a neutral umpire as in a civil suit, II \ !^< but as an active explorer and seeker of truth who is required to 'hold an enquiry into the claim' for determining the 'just compensation'. The Tribunal should therefore take an active mle to ascertain the true and correct position so thaf it can sssess the 'just compensation'." 10. Therefore, claim petition could not have been treated as a suit and it w^.'Re basic duty of the Claims Tribunal to ascertain the true and correct position by summoning record and examine the witnesses and thereafter, give its finding. Though finding has been given by the Claims Tribunal in this case that the passenger paid the charges to carry the goods in the vehicle and were traveling with their goods, but there is no evidence of eye-witness in this regard. It is also not known whether the passengers were sitting inside the cabin or not, as there was seatingcapacity of three persons to sit inside the cabin i.e. the Driver and two passengers and this factual dispute arose for consideration in the claim petitions in question. It is also noticed that the insurance policy in questionwas a package policy. 11. For the reasons stated hereinabove, weallow both the aforestated appeals in part, set-aside the impugned award dated 24-03-2007 and remit back the matter to the Tribunal for decision afresh. No order as to costs. 12. Needless to mention that the partiesshall be allowed to amend their pleadings, adduce further evidence again in support of their pleadings and may file further documents and get the documents verified etc. Thereafter, the decision shall be made by the Tribunal on merits. 13. If the amount of compensation is already in deposit, the same shall be kept in the fixed deposit in a Nationalized Bank till the decision of the claim petition afresh. However, in case, amount of the compensation or.any part thereof has /' been paid to the claimants, the same shall not be recovered from them till the disposal of the claim petition. 14. The lower Courts record shall be sent back forthwith. 15. The parties shall appear before the Claims Tribunal concerned on 15 June, 2011. - —<z. Sd/- I.M. Quddusl Judge Tw^ane Sd/- ManindraM. Shrivastav. Judge