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Judgment
Viney Mittal, J.—In this appeal, appellants are the owners of offending vehicle tractor No. HNV-9884. The said vehicle was involved in an accident occurred on June 7, 1991 resulting in the death of one Suresh Dutt Sharma. Proceedings u/s 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act were taken by the claimants, who are the dependants of deceased Suresh Dutt Sharma. The learned Tribunal found that the aforesaid tractor was being driven negligently and rashly by Shish Pal, who was driving the said tractor at the time of the said accident. It was also found that the driving licence held by aforesaid Shish Pal was a forged and fake. The learned Tribunal assessed the compensation payable to the claimants at Rs. 2,86,000. However, since the driving licence was held to be fake, therefore, the Insurance Company was exonerated from the liability to pay the compensation. The compensation was made payable jointly and severally by Shish Pal, Tarsem Lal and Harish Chander i.e., driver and owners of the offending tractor.
The present appeal has been filed by the owners of the tractor.
The controversy, as to whether the Insurance Company can be absolved from its liability when the licence of a driver, driving the offending vehicle found to be fake, is no more res integra. The matter is squarely covered by the judgment of Hon''ble Supreme Court of India in the case of National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Swaran Singh and Others, .
In view of the aforesaid law laid down by Hon''ble the Supreme Court of India and keeping in view the findings of facts, recorded by the learned Tribunal, the present appeal is allowed. It is held that the amount of compensation shall be paid jointly and severally by the National Insurance Company, which was the insurer of the offending vehicle, as well as the driver and the owners of the tractor. The owners and Insurance Company shall have their rights inter se as per the law declared by the Supreme Court of India in the case of Swaran Singh (supra).
The present appeal is, accordingly, allowed.