F.A.O.NO. 5549 OF 2004 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 5549 OF 2004 Date of decision:1st September, 2010 The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Regional Office, SCO No. 109-110-111, Sector17, Chandigarh through S.P.Sharma, Assistant Manager. .......Appellant Versus Smt. Jasbir Kaur and others ........Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. D.P.Gupta, Advocate with Mr. Jagtar Kureel, Advocate, for the appellant. None for the respondents. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes/No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not?Yes/No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Yes/No K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. The Insurance Company is in appeal against an award passed under Section 163(A) of the Motor Vehicles Act (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act') on the ground that deceased was admittedly earning more than Rs. 5,500/- per month which was above the ceiling provided for claim under Section 163(A) of the Act. The contention is that the application under Section 163 (A) of the Act itself is not maintainable, in view of the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Deepal Girishbhai Soni and other versus United India Insurance Company Limited F.A.O.NO. 5549 OF 2004 2 (2004) ACJ 934. The deceased was the driver of a truck that dashed against a bus. The party in appeal is the insurer of the bus. A claim against the insurer would not have been possible in a case where the claim is made under Section 163(A) of the Act unless the representatives were eligible to prosecute the same. The case must be considered in view of the particular financial status only as an application under Section 166 of the Act. No issue of negligence was taken before the Tribunal in view of the application under Section 163(A) of the Act. 2. The award of the Tribunal is set aside and I remit the matter to the Tribunal to permit the claimants to amend the case under Section 166 of the Act and prosecute the same. The application for amendment shall be moved as expeditiously as possible as soon as the matter is called after remand and the Tribunal shall endeavour to dispose of the case in accordance with law by affording to all parties opportunities to let in evidence on the relevant issues. 3. The appeal is allowed and the matter is remanded to the lower court in the light of above directions. Parties are directed to appear before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Chandigarh on 30.09.2010. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 1st September, 2010 Shivani Kaushik