Summary
In a third-party fatal-accident claim involving an unlicensed jeep driver, the Supreme Court restored the direction requiring the insurer to pay and recover from the owner. The High Court had wrongly treated that remedy as confined to the Supreme Court’s Article 142 power. Its enhanced compensation of Rs.4,94,700, with accrued interest, remained payable by the insurer.
Issues
- Whether the Tribunal could direct the insurer to pay third-party compensation and recover it from the vehicle owner despite breach of the driving-licence condition.
Provisions considered
- Section 149(2)(a)(ii), as applicable to the accident, Motor Vehicles Act, 1988Applied the Swaran Singh principles concerning the insurer’s burden to establish the licence-related defence and breach by the insured, including the owner’s reasonable care, while permitting pay and recover in third-party claims. (¶¶ 6, 7)
Held
- Swaran Singh governed the third-party claim. Mere absence or invalidity of a driving licence does not by itself establish the insured’s breach; the insurer bears the burden, and the owner’s reasonable care must be assessed on the facts. Pay and recover can be ordered where the relevant licence breach is established. (¶¶ 6, 7, 8)
- The Parvathneni reference had been disposed of with the questions of law left open. It did not displace Swaran Singh and the subsequent decisions governing this case. The High Court therefore erred in setting aside the Tribunal’s pay-and-recover direction on the ground that only the Supreme Court possessed the requisite power. (¶¶ 11, 12)
- The insurer may recover from the owner through proceedings before the executing court, without instituting a separate suit. The High Court’s enhancement of compensation was affirmed. (¶¶ 13, 14)
Result
Appeal partly allowed. Insurer directed to pay Rs.4,94,700 with accrued interest at the awarded rate of 6% per annum and recover it from the owner. No costs.