NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED Vs. DOLLY SATISH GANDHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave Granted.

(2.) 'A' met with an accident. They filed a claim before the jurisdictional Tribunal i.e., Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal seeking compensation in which inter alia, loss of income, future prospects, special diet, transportation and medical expenses have been claimed for. Simultaneously, claims set out with insurance under the claim of medical insurance for the very same medical expenses are allowed and money received. Is it legally permissible for the MACT to account for such amounts received, and as such deduct the same or not, is the question involved herein.

(3.) A Bench of three Judges of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay in deciding a conflict between judgments of the said Court, namely The New India Assurance v. Dineshchandra Shantilal Shah and Ors., (2013) 09 BOM CK 0240 (First Appeal No.657 of 2013) on the one hand, and Vrajesh Navnitlal Desai v. K. Bagyam and Anr., 2005 SCC OnLine Bom 156, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd., Kolkata v. Ajit Chandrakant Rakvi and Anr., 2019 SCC OnLine Bom 496 on the other, in terms of the impugned judgment, held that the amount received by a claimant by way of his own Mediclaim, is not deductible when such a claimant is before the jurisdictional MACT seeking compensation for injuries he has suffered as a result of an accident. New India Assurance Co. Ltd., is aggrieved and questions the correctness of such a finding before us, in this appeal.