The Karnataka High Court has upheld a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) order directing a man to pay Rs 25 lakh in compensation to his two children for the death of their mother in a road accident, holding that the insurance company cannot be asked to pay the amount first and recover it later because the father, who was driving without a valid licence, was himself liable for the accident.
Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar, in an order dated July 24, dismissed the appeal filed by siblings Pavan and Pavithra H M, who had sought enhanced compensation and requested that Reliance General Insurance Company be directed to satisfy the award before recovering the amount from their father, Manjunatha.
Court Declines To Apply ‘Pay And Recover’ Principle
The High Court agreed with the Tribunal’s finding that Manjunatha was riding the motorcycle without a valid driving licence at the time of the accident. It held that the “pay and recover” principle is generally invoked in cases involving third-party victims where there has been a breach of insurance policy conditions.
The court observed that, in the present case, the claim arose from the alleged rash and negligent riding of the children’s father, who was also the owner and rider of the motorcycle. Since the liability had been fixed on him and he was the father of the claimants, the court held that the principle could not be extended to require the insurer to pay the compensation first.
Arguments Before The High Court
Counsel for the appellants, Advocate Sathisha T, argued that because Manjunatha did not possess a valid driving licence, there had been a breach of the insurance policy. He submitted that the Tribunal ought to have applied the “pay and recover” doctrine, under which the insurer would compensate the claimants and later recover the amount from the insured in cases involving a wilful breach of policy conditions.
Opposing the appeal, insurer’s counsel H C Betsur contended that the doctrine had no application because the owner-driver of the motorcycle was also the father of the claimants and the husband of the deceased. He argued that the Tribunal had correctly placed liability on the owner-driver and rightly absolved the insurer from making the payment.
Background Of The Case
The case stemmed from a road accident on September 28, 2018. Manjunatha was riding a motorcycle with his wife, Manjula, travelling as the pillion passenger when the vehicle met with an accident. According to the case, the accident was caused by his rash and negligent riding, resulting in Manjula’s death.
Following the investigation, the police filed a chargesheet alleging that Manjunatha had caused the accident through rash and negligent driving and had been riding the motorcycle without a valid driving licence. Based on these findings, the MACT had awarded Rs 25 lakh in compensation to the couple’s two children while fastening liability solely on their father and exonerating the insurer. The High Court has now affirmed that decision.
