IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. FAO No.712/2009(O&M) Date of Decision:10/2/2009 The Oriental Insurance Company Limited. ..........Appellant Versus Smt.Asha Devi widow and others. ..........Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE JASWANT SINGH. Present: Mr. Amit Rawal,Advocate for the appellant-Insurance Company. JASWANT SINGH,J C.M.No.3099-CII/2009. C.M. allowed. Photocopy of Insurance Policy in respect of ill fated motorcycle is taken on record. FAO No.712/2009. Appellant Insurance Company has filed this appeal against the award dated 7.11.2008 passed by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Fatehgarh Sahib (for short the Tribunal), whereby the claim petition filed by respondents-claimants under Section 163-A of the Motor Vehicles Act,1988 (for short the Act) was allowed, and they were held entitled to compensation of Rs.3,36,000/- (Rupees three lacs thirty six thousand only) on account of death of deceased Puran Chand besides Rs.9500/- towards the funeral expenses, in a motor vehicular accident that took place on 15.5.2007. The appellant being the insurer of the ill fated motorcycle was held liable to FAO No.712/2009(O&M) 2 pay the compensation. Hence the present appeal. It has been contended by the learned counsel for the appellant that under Section 147 of the Act, the Insurance Company is liable to pay compensation only in respect of damage to the property/bodily injuries caused to the third party, but in the present case the deceased was not a third party and at the time of accident he himself was driving the motorcycle, therefore, the learned Tribunal has wrongly fastened the liability upon the appellant Company. The further ground on which challenge has been laid to the award is that the FIR was registered against unknown vehicle and thus a false claim has been set up just to get compensation. After hearing the learned counsel for the appellant-Insurance Company and perusing the record, I do not find any merit in these submissions and the same are rejected. Vide order dated 31.1.2009, the appellant Insurance Company was directed to place on record a copy of the insurance policy obtained by the deceased in respect of motorcycle in question. In compliance with the aforesaid directions photocopy of the insurance policy filed by the appellant Insurance Company has been taken on record vide order of even date recorded in the beginning of this order. A perusal of the break-up of “Schedule of Premium” given in the said policy shows that Rs.50/- were paid by the deceased insured towards Personal Accident (PA). Once the Insurance Company has accepted and FAO No.712/2009(O&M) 3 received the premium under the head “Personal Accident”, it cannot be permitted to take shelter of Section 147 of the Act. Reliance in this regard can be placed upon Sunita Lokhande and others v. New India Assurance Co.Ltd. And others, 2008(3)R.C.R.(Civil) 727, whereby a Full Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court (Jabalpur Bench), upon a reference made by a Division Bench of that Court, after considering the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Dhanraj V.New India Assurance Company Ltd.,2004 AIR SCW 5438 and Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. v. Jhuma Saha, 2007 ACJ 818, held that the owner cannot claim compensation in respect of an injury or death suffered by him in a motor accident, unless additional premium in respect of such personal injury or death has been taken by way of special insurance contract. Thus, in the present case the appellant Insurance Company having accepted the premium for “Personal Accident” cannot escape its liability. Regarding the second and the last submission that FIR was registered against unknown vehicle, Smt.Asha Devi, respondent no.1- claimant,who is widow of the deceased Puran Chand appeared in the witness box and deposed that at the time of accident she was going in a three wheeler to the temple of Mata Sati near Floating Restaurant Sirhind (place of accident) when the accident took place and she had seen the whole occurrence. Though the appellant-respondent Insurance Company had seriously contested the ocular version of Smt.Asha Devi, the learned Tribunal found that the fact regarding the death of deceased Puran Chand in a road side accident stands FAO No.712/2009(O&M) 4 proved from her statement read together with the FIR that an unknown vehicle had hit the motorcycle of the deceased from behind, resulting into his death at the spot. Since the claimants had filed the petition under Section 163-A of the Act, the fact as to whether the accident took place due to negligence of some other vehicle or of the vehicle of the deceased, loses significance. No other point has been raised. For the reasons stated above,finding no merit in this appeal the same is hereby dismissed in limine. 10.2.2009. (Jaswant Singh) joshi Judge