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Judgment
B.D. Agarwal, J.—This appeal has been filed u/s 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 by the Insurance Company assailing the award dated 2.2.2009 passed by the learned Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Aizawl in MACT Case No. 33 of 2007. By this impugned award the tribunal has awarded compensation of Rs. 3,46,500/- in favour of the claimant for the death of their son/brother. As per the impugned judgment the compensation amount would carry similar interest at the rate of 9% p.a. from the date of filing of the claim petition i.e. on 12.4.2007. At the same time, the learned Member has directed the Insurance Company to satisfy the entire award without fastening any liability upon the owner and driver of the vehicle.
Heard Mr. R. Gurung, learned Counsel for the Appellant and Mr. Michael Zoathankhuma, learned senior counsel for the Respondent No. 1/claimant. Also perused the impugned judgment.
The Insurance Company is challenging the impugned judgment basically on the ground that since the driver did not have valid driving licence the Insurance Company is not liable to satisfy the award. To buttress his submission the learned Counsel also referred to the copy of the driving licence produced by the claimant before the tribunal.
The copy of the driving licence, marked as Ext.C-9, shows that the driver namely Laltanpuia had obtained the driving licence on 29.10.97 and the said licence was for ''Non-Transport'' vehicle. The licence was valid till 28.10.2007. It was converted to driving licence for ''Transport Vehicle'' only w.e.f.13.2.2007, whereas, the accident had taken place on 10.1.2007. In other words, on the date of accident the driver had no licence to drive any transport vehicle. In the present case the driver was driving a heavy vehicle i.e. Tipper and as such he was required to possess a licence for transport vehicle, which he did not possess on the date of accident. Be that as it may, the Appellant is not disputing the fact that on the date of accident the offending vehicle bearing registration No. MZ-01/D-1230 was duly insured with them.
In view of the judgment of the Hon''ble Supreme Court of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Zaharulnisha and Others, the Insurance Company is directed to satisfy the award at the first instance and recover the amount from the owner of the vehicle.
With the modification in the judgment, this appeal is disposed of.
Registry is directed to return the LCR with a copy of this judgment forthwith to the court below.