Formal Police Proof Is Enough To Prove Injuries: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court recently held that the formal proof in the form of police records would be sufficient enough for the Tribunal to come to a conclusion that the claimant had proved injuries in the road traffic accident.

Bench comprising Justice V Srishananda heard an appeal under Section 173(1) of Motor Vehicles Act 1988 filed by an insurance company against compensation awarded by Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal. The claim petitions on contest came to be allowed in a sum of Rs.77, 350/- and Rs.1,19,050/- respectively.

Insurance Company challenged the validity of said judgment on the ground that TATA ACE vehicle bearing registration No.KA-25/EM-7353 had been falsely implicated in the alleged road traffic accident and sought for admitting the appeals and set aside the impugned order.

The only ground on which the Insurance Company advanced their case was that there was no eyewitness to the incident. The said aspect of the matter had been taken note of by the learned Trial Judge.

The Court said that the Apex Court in the case of Anita Sharma and Others Vs. New India Assurance Company Limited and Another, reported in 2021(1) SCC 171 had clearly held that the standard of proof was that was required to be adopted in proving the accident in that of preponderance of possibility.

The Court concluded that the Tribunal had taken into consideration the police records and in the absence of any compelling reasons which would atleast indicate active collusion between the claimants and the owner of the TATA ACE vehicle or the driver, had allowed the claim petitions.

The Karnataka High Court dismissed the appeal.