Mohd.Shaban & Ors. vs National Insurance Co.& Ors.

J.P. Singh, J.—Claiming compensation for the death of Nissar Ahmad in a motor vehicular accident, appellant Nos. 1 and 2, the parents and

appellant No. 3, the daughter, of the deceased filed a claim petition before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Srinagar which was decided by

the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Pulwama, Kashmir, to which it had been later transferred, awarding an amount of Rs. 1.28 lacs as

compensation along with interest @ 6% from the date of filing of the claim petition to the claimants. This amount, in terms of the award, was to be

satisfied by the owner and the driver of the vehicle in the ratio indicated in the award. National Insurance Co. Ltd. was absolved of its liability to

indemnify the claim by the Tribunal, on the ground that the vehicle had been proved to have been driven by a person who was holding a fake

driving license. The appellants thereafter approached the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal Srinagar seeking execution of the award.

The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Srinagar directed the Insurance Co., on appellants' application, to satisfy the award and later recover it

from the owner and driver of the offending vehicle. The Tribunal had passed this direction relying upon National Insurance Co. Vs. Swarn Singh,

reported as AIR 2003 S.C. 131 and Section 149 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988.

Allowing Insurance Company's CIMA 120/2007, the Tribunal's direction to the Company to satisfy the award has been setaside vide order

dated 18.12.2008 of a learned Single Judge of this Court.

Aggrieved by the judgment of learned Single Judge, the appellant's/claimants have preferred this Letters Patent Appeal. We have heard learned

counsel for the appellant and perused the judgment impugned in the appeal and the order passed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal

Srinagar.

Award passed by the Tribunal on appellants' claim petition absolving the National Insurance Co. Ltd., of its liability to indemnify the owner,

does not appear to have been contested either by the claimants or by the owner and the driverof the offending vehicle, which had thus attained

finality.

Findings of the Tribunal on appellant's claim petition on issue No. 2 holding that the Insurance Co. was not liable to compensate the appellants

for the death of Nissar Ahmad and that the claim allowed by the Tribunal was required to be satisfied by the owner and driver of the vehicle too

had thus attained finality.

The order passed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal Srinagar directing the Insurance Co. to satisfy the award by paying the amount of

compensation to the appellants to recover it from the owner and driver of the vehicle later, in our opinion is unwarranted, in that, the principle

underlying the doctrine of ResJudidata may not permit the Tribunal to readjudicate the question which stood already concluded by its earlier award

absolving the Insurance Co. of its liability to satisfy the award, which had become final.

Fresh exposition of law different from the one which was prevailing when a judgment was delivered after adjudication of the rights of the parties

to a lis, may not, in our view, permit review of a concluded judgment. This is so because such a course being against the settled position of law

flowing from the principle of 'Collusiveness of Judgments and Orders', cannot be countenanced.

For all what has been said above, we do not find any ground to interfere with the judgment passed by the learned Single Judge setting aside the

Tribunal's direction to the Insurance Company to satisfy the award.

Found to be without merit, this appeal is accordingly dismissed.