-1- NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 939 of 2019 1 - Manager, The Oriental Insurance Company Limited Madina Manzil Kutchery Chowk, Jail Road, Raipur Chhattisgarh, Through Authorised Signatory Manager, Tp Hub, Bilaspur, Rama Trade Centre, First Floor, Poopsite Rajeev Plaza, Near Old Bus Stand, Bilaspur, Chhattisgrah, Pin- 495001..............(Respondent No.3), District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - Smt. Reenu Bibi Khan Wd/o Azad Khan Aged About 35 Years Caste- Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, P.S. Katghora, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh., District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 2 - Kumari Mehrun Nisha D/o Late Azad Khan Aged About 18 Years R/o Village Sutarra, P.S. Katghorah, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh., District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 3 - Minor Raju Khan S/o Late Azad Khan Aged About 16 Years Minor Through Their Mother And Natural Guardian Res. No. 1 Smt. Reenu Bibi Khan, Aged About 35 Years, Wd/o (Wrongly Mentioned As Daughter Of In The Cause Titile) Late Azad Khan, Caste Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, P.S. Katghorah, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh., District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 4 - Minor Sheru Khan S/o Late Azad Khan Aged About 15 Years Minor Through Their Mother And Natural Guardian Res. No. 1 Smt. Reenu Bibi Khan, Aged About 35 Years, Wd/o (Wrongly Mentioned As Daughter Of In The Cause Titile) Late Azad Khan, Caste Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, P.S. Katghorah, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh., District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 5 - Minor Kumari Rani D/o Late Azad Khan Aged About 14 Years Minor Through Their Mother And Natural Guardian Res. No. 1 Smt. Reenu Bibi Khan, Aged About 35 Years, Wd/o (Wrongly Mentioned As Daughter Of In The Cause Titile) Late Azad Khan, Caste Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, P.S. Katghorah, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh., District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 6 - Ahmed Khan S/o Late Azad Khan Aged About 12 Years Minor Through Their Mother And Natural Guardian Res. No. 1 Smt. Reenu Bibi Khan, Aged About 35 Years, Wd/o (Wrongly Mentioned As Daughter Of In The Cause Titile) Late Azad Khan, Caste Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, P.S. Katghorah, District- Korba, Chhattisgarh., District : Korba, Chhattisgarh REKHA SINGH -2- 7 - Ismail Miya S/o Late Madul Miya Aged About 70 Years Caste Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, Police Station- Katghora, District- Korba, Chhattsgarh., District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 8 - Khairoon Bidi W/o Ismail Miya Aged About 62 Years Caste Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, Police Station- Katghora, District- Korba, Chhattsgarh...................(Claimants), District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 9 - Rasool Khan S/o Jamaluddin Khan Caste Musalman, R/o Village Sutarra, Police Station- Katghora, District- Korba, Chhattsgarh...............(Driver), District : Korba, Chhattisgarh 10 - M/s Indramani Minerals India Private Limited Address Tower C-1 Aishwarya Chamber, Telibandha, Raipur, Chhattisgarh.............(Owner), District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh ... Respondents For Appellant/Insurance Company : Mr. Bennoon, Advocate holding the brief of Mr. R.N. Pusty, Advocate For respondent No.1 to 8/claimants : Mr. Ram Kumar Tiwari, Advocate For other respondents : None appears Hon'ble Shri Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey Order on Board 19.09.2025 1) Heard. 2) The appellant/Insurance Company has challenged the award passed by the learned Additional Tribunal to the learned Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Katghora, District Korba (C.G.) in Claim Case No.55/2018 dated 15.01.2019 whereby, learned Tribunal passed an award to the tune of Rs.17,93,520 with interest @ 7% per annum. 3) The facts of the present case are that on 14.01.2018 at about 16:30 hours, the deceased Azad Khan was dashed by driver of Hyva vehicle bearing registration No.C.G.4/LQ/7998, which was being driven by its driver rashly and negligently. The said Azad Khan died on account of injuries sustained in the accident. The age of the deceased at the time of accident was 38 years as pleaded in the claim application and he was earning Rs.50,000/- as he was owner of the -3- trailer. 4) The Insurance Company filed reply and denied the contents of the claim application. A specific plea was taken that the driver of offending vehicle was not having effective and valid driving licence and it was being driven in breach of Insurance Policy. 5) Learned Claims Tribunal framed issues. The parties led evidence and thereafter learned Tribunal passed an award. 6) Mr. Bennoon counsel appearing for the appellant/Insurance Company would submit that in the postmortem report, age of the deceased is reflected 50 years and the wife of the deceased in evidence disclosed the age of the deceased 45 years but the learned Tribunal considered the age of the deceased 37 years and assessed the compensation accordingly. He would further submit that the driver and owner of the vehicle failed to submit the fitness certificate and permit, therefore, the learned Tribunal ought to have fastened the liability with the owner and driver of the vehicle. He would pray to allow the appeal. 7) On the other hand, Mr. Tiwari, the learned counsel appearing for the Claimants would oppose the submissions made by Mr. Bennoon. He would submit that the claimants placed on record the copy of Aadhar Card and Pan Card of the deceased to prove his date of birth. He would contend that the learned Tribunal placed reliance on those documents to arrive at the conclusion that the age of the deceased was 37 years on the date of accident. He would further contend that the Insurance Company failed to adduce any clinching evidence with regard to age of the deceased. Mr. Tiwari would argue that the fitness certificate and permit were seized by the Police and it is not a case where offending vehicle was being driven in absence of fitness certificate and permit. -4- He would submit that the appeal deserves to be dismissed. 8) I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the record with utmost circumspection. 9) A perusal of the Ex.P/19 which is a copy of Aadhar Card and Ex.P/25 which is copy of Pan Card would show that the date of birth of the deceased was 08.01.1980 and thus, on the date of accident, he was aged about 37 years and therefore, the contention made by Mr. Bennoon,Advocate cannot be accepted. 10) With regard to non-submission of copy of fitness certificate and permit, those documents were seized by the Police and are part of the charge-sheet, therefore, the argument advanced by Mr. Bennoon, Advocate is misconceived. 11) Considering the above-discussed facts and the findings recorded by the learned Tribunal, I do not find any good ground to interfere with the award passed by the learned Tribunal. 12) Accordingly, this appeal fails and is hereby dismissed. Sd/- (Rakesh Mohan Pandey) Judge Rekha