1 2025:CGHC:60306 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MAC No. 870 of 2022 1 - Dileshwari @ Mamta Vaishnav W/o Late Sukhsagar Vaishnav Aged About 23 Years R/o Village Reda, Police Station And Tahsil Dabhara, District Janjgir- Champa Chhattisgarh At Present Resident Of Village Kiritmal, Deepapara, Police Station Bhupdevpur, Tahsil Kharsiya, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh (Claimant) 2 - Nandkishore Vaishnav (Minor) S/o Late Sukhsagar Vaishnav Aged About 3 Years Minor Through Natural Guardian Mother Dileshwari @ Mamta Vaishnav, W/o Late Sukhsagar Vaishnav, R/o Village Reda, Police Station And Tahsil Dabhara, District Janjgir- Champa Chhattisgarh At Present Resident Of Village Kiritmal, Deepapara, Police Station Bhupdevpur, Tahsil Kharsiya, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh (Claimant) 3 - Hemant Vaishnav (Minor) S/o Late Sukhsagar Vaishnav Aged About 1 Years Minor Through Natural Guardian Mother Dileshwari @ Mamta Vaishnav, W/o Late Sukhsagar Vaishnav, R/o Village Reda, Police Station And Tahsil Dabhara, District Janjgir- Champa Chhattisgarh At Present Resident Of Village HARNEET KAUR Digitally signed by HARNEET KAUR Date: 2025.12.12 17:24:01 +0530 2 Kiritmal, Deepapara, Police Station Bhupdevpur, Tahsil Kharsiya, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh (Claimant) ... Appellants/Claimants versus 1 - Koushal Kishore Chandra S/o Ganesh Ram Chandra Aged About 29 Years Occupation Business, R/o Village Pihrid, Police Station Malkharouda, District Janjgir- Champa Chhattisgarh 2 - Sanjay Das Mahant S/o Mahettar Das Mahant Aged About 20 Years Occupation Driver, R/o Village Pihrid Police Station Malkharouda, District Janjgir Champa Chhattisgarh 3 - Cholamandalam M. M. General Insurance Company Branch Bilaspur, Vyapar Vihar Main Road, Near Vinayak Netralaya, Bilaspur, Tahsil And District Bilaspur Chhattisgarh 4 - Kamla Bairagi Wd/o Vrindavan Bairagi Aged About 59 Years Occupation Nil, R/o Village Reda, Police Station And Tahsil Dabhara, District Janjgir Champa Chhattisgarh (Applicant No. 4) 5 - Sahodra Bairagi D/o Vrindavan Bairagi Aged About 30 Years Occupation Nil, R/o Village Reda, Police Station And Tahsil Dabhara, District Janjgir Champa Chhattisgarh (Applicant No. 5) ... Respondent(s) For Appellants :Mr. Punit Ruparel, Advocate For Respondent No. 3 :Mr. Ghanshyam Patel, Advocate For Respondents No. 4 & 5 :Mr. Ravi Kumar Barman, Advocate 3 SB- Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal Judgment On Board 12.12.2025 1. This appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short “Act of 1988”) has been preferred by the appellants/claimants challenging the impugned award dated 16/06/2022 passed by learned First Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Raigarh (C.G.) in Claim Case No. 13/2020, whereby learned Claims Tribunal has awarded a total sum of Rs. 22,72,692/- as compensation to the appellants/claimants for the death of Sukhsagar Vaishnav, aged about 22 years, who worked as a Painter and Mason and the liability of payment of compensation has been fastened upon respondents No. 1 and 2 herein. 2. Learned counsel for the appellants/claimants would submit that the Claims Tribunal has exonerated the Insurance Company from the liability of payment of compensation by holding that the driver of the offending vehicle i.e. respondent No. 2 herein did not have valid and effective driving license on the date of the accident, however, in light of the decision rendered by the Supreme Court in the matter of National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Swaran Singh and Others 1 the Claims Tribunal ought to 1 (2004) 3 SCC 297 4 have directed the Insurance Company to firstly pay the compensation to the appellants/claimants and thereafter, recover it from the owner and driver of the offending vehicle. 3. Learned counsel for respondent No. 3 would support the impugned award and submit that the compensation awarded by learned Claims Tribunal is just and proper and does not warrant any interference by this Court. 4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions made herein-above and went through the records with utmost circumspection. 5. Learned Claims Tribunal has clearly recorded a finding in paragraph 18 of the impugned award that on the date of the accident, the driver of the offending vehicle did not have valid and effective driving license and therefore, the Insurance Company would not be liable for payment of compensation to the claimants, however, in view of the decision rendered by the Supreme Court in Swaran Singh (supra), the Claims Tribunal ought to have directed the Insurance Company to firstly pay the compensation to the claimants and thereafter, recover it from the owner and driver of the offending vehicle. In that view of the matter, I hereby direct that the Insurance Company will firstly pay the compensation to the claimants and thereafter, recover 5 it from the owner and driver i.e. respondents No. 1 and 2 herein. Rest of the conditions of the impugned award shall remain intact. 6. Accordingly, this appeal is allowed in part and the impugned award is modified to the extent indicated herein- above. Sd/- (Sanjay K. Agrawal) Judge Harneet