- (1.) THE Northern India General Insurance Company Limited has appealed against the award of the Motor Ac cidents Claims Tribunal, Meerut, specifying the amount at Rs. 20.000/- payable by it to the respondent 2nd Lt. Kanwar Jit Singh SobtL
(2.) ; A motor truck No. DIG 3859 was acquired by Ram Prakash Thukral from Delhi by arrangement through a firm of financiers. On 1-5-1965 Ram Prakash Thukral got the said truck registered in his name with the Regional Transport Authority, Meerut under the Motor Vehicles Act. Then a transfer entry was made in the office of the Regional Transport Officer and the said truck was registered in the name of Gopal Das on 3-9-1965. Gopal Das thus became the regis tered owner of the said truck and obtained a registration certificate under the Motor Vehicles Act, Gopal Das then effected an Insurance Policy covering risk to third party with the Northern India General Insurance Company Ltd. (hereinafter called the insurer) covering the risk for the period of one year commencing from 3-5-1968 and ending with 2- 5-1969. As luck would have it, when the said truck was being driven by Ram Dayal driver on 21-10-1968 in connection with transporting the materials belonging to Ram Prakash Thukral, it met with an accident on the Meerut-Roorkee Road crushing second Lt. Kanwar Jit Singh Sobti and a friend of his riding on a scooter being driven by 2nd Lt. Sobti. As a result of the accident, 2nd Lt. Sobti was severely injured, while his friend escaped with minor injuries. The scooter was also badly damaged. 2nd Lt Sobti was ultimately removed by the Mili tary authorities to a Hospital in Poona where his right leg was amputated from a point six inches above the knee. The loss of the leg made 2nd Lt. Sobti useless for a future Army Career. Lt. Col. B. S. Sobti, the father of 2nd Lt. Sobti then presented a claim on be half of his son 2nd Lt. Sobti in the Appro priate form before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Meerut, for a compensation of rupees two lacs. In the column of owners the names of Ram Prakash Thukral, Gopal Das and Ram Dayal were entered and in the column of the insurer the name of the appellant company was entered in the state ment of claim. After the notices had been served on the abovesaid persons written state ments were filed contesting the claim. Inter alia it was pleaded by Ram Prakash Thuk ral that he was not the owner of the motor truck number DLG 3859 and was under no legal liability to pay any damages. Gopal Das admitted himself to be the sole owner of the said truck and so did Ram Dayal admit that he was driver of the truck. They contested the claim mainly on the plea that the injury was received by the claimant 2nd Lt. Sobti on account of his own negligence and rashness and not on account of any fault of Ram Dayal, who was driving the truck. The defence set up by the insurer, inter alia, was that the insurance policy was void ab initio as the correct facts about the ownership of the truck were not disclosed; that the fact that the vehicle had met with accidents in the past three years and that the driver had been convicted for rash and neg ligent driving were concealed and that the insurance policy had lapsed on account of the transfer made by the real owner to Gopal Das which fact was discovered by the insurer after enquiries.
(3.) THE learned District Judge who constituted the Tribunal found from the evi dence on record that the accident occurred on account of the rashness and negligence of Ram Dayal; that Ram Prakash Thukral was the real owner and the registration in the name of Gopal Das was Benami, Gopal Das being merely a domestic servant of Thukral, and that the insurance policy was valid and binding having been effected by Gopal Das, the registered owner. The Tribunal further recorded a finding that the injury received, resulting in the disability of 2nd Lt. Sobti, deserved to be compensated by a sum of rupees two lacs. While awarding the com pensation the Tribunal as required by Sec tion 110-B of the Motor Vehicles Act speci fied the liability of the insurer as Rs. 20, 000/-, the amount insured under the policy.;