BENGALURU: The mere acceptance of guilt can never be grounds for a motor accident claims tribunal to come to a conclusion, the Karnataka High Court observed while reversing a judgment passed in an accident case.
“When the application is filed under section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act by adducing independent evidence, the claimants have to prove their case,” Justice Lalitha Kanneghanti observed while allowing the appeal filed by United Insurance Company Limited.The case pertains to an accident between two motorcycles on November 24, 2009, in Kundapur of Udupi district. Based on the claim by victim Ganesh Achar and the alleged acceptance ofguilt by Raghavendra Achar, the owner of the offending vehicle, the tribunal had awarded Rs 60,670 as compensation, payable by the insurer. Both the insurer and Ganesh Achar challenged the verdict. The latter sought Rs 5.7 lakh as compensation.
The insurer argued that though the accident happened on November 24, 2009, the complaint was actually lodged on January 30, 2010, the spot mahazar was conducted only on February 6, 2010, and the wound certificate was issued on February 20, 2010, creating doubts about the involvement of the vehicle. The company further claimed that the owner of the vehicle and the complainanthave colluded.
Justice Kanneghanti noted that though the charge-sheet supports the case of the claimant, considering the circumstances – the date of accident and the date of complaint – the court is not able to accept any of the contentions raised by the claimant as well as the findings of the tribunal that the offending vehicle was the one involved in the accident.