High Court chastises insurance company for delaying tactics

NEW INDIA ASSURANCE’S APPEAL AGAINST MOTOR ACCIDENTS CLAIMS TRIBUNAL DISMISSED WITH COSTS
COURT SHOOTS DOWN INSURANCE COMPANY’S ‘OBJECTIVE’ TO ‘DEPRIVE VICTIMS OF ACCIDENTS FROM LEGITIMATE COMPENSATION’
GANGTOK, 24 Nov: Insurance claimants of motor vehicle accidents are often put under unnecessary harassment by the insurance companies come the time of applying for claims under the Motor Vehicles Act. And more often than not, the claimants have to approach the judiciary for redressal of grievances against the insurance agencies.
There has been a plethora of such cases in the lower courts in Sikkim and most cases go in favour of the claiming petitioner; however, the insurance companies make it a point to go for appeal in the High Court against the orders to pay the due compensation by the lower court. Not only does this cause undue delay but also is a cause of harassment for the aggrieved parties.
In yet another such case, the High Court of Sikkim, while upholding the order of the tribunal for award of the due compensation, has taken note of the delaying tactics of the insurance companies.
In an order passed on 18 November in an appeal filed by New India Assurance against the order of the tribunal, Acting Chief Justice SP Wangdi observes, “It has been noticed that almost every appeal filed on behalf of the insurance companies is invariably delayed. The grounds seeking for the delay being condoned are always found to be stereotyped as the ones set out in the present case. This clearly reflects the casualness with which the insurance companies file appeals and, the appeals itself appear to be filed as a matter of routine…”
Incidentally, this appeal in the High Court by New India Assurance against the order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, South and West Districts, Namchi, was filed after a delay of 169 days. The cause for delay, as submitted by the company, was that the entire records had to be sent to its divisional officer at Siliguri for necessary instructions, who, in turn, sent it to their regional office in Kolkata, which, in turn sent it to their standing counsel for his expert opinion.
The only objective, the High Court notes, which could be achieved by doing so would be to “deprive the victims of accidents from their legitimate compensation awarded to them by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal”.
The High Court goes on to observe that this is clearly in gross conflict with the object of the Act (Motor Vehicles Act) which is to provide for expeditious and speedy relief to the victims of the motor vehicle accidents. In this particular case, the Tribunal had awarded the victim compensation amounting to Rs. 3.66 lakh. This was upheld by the High Court.
Noting that the grounds for delay are vague and bereft of material facts, the Court refused to consider them as ‘sufficient cause’ to condone the delay. The appealing company had applied for a certified copy of the order of the Tribunal after 142 days of the order. Such ‘gaps in communication’, if they can be called so, have been noted by the Sikkim High Court in previous cases as well and these findings, the High Court notes, were also noted by the Supreme Court while dealing with a similar situation. 
Considering the indifferent and casual  approach of the appealing company, the High Court has rejected the application for condonation of delay. The insurance company’s appeal was dismissed with cost of Rs. 10,000 along with the direction to pay the compensation awarded by the Tribunal within a period of 15 days, failing which, the company shall entail payment of additional interest of 2%. Any amount already paid by the company is to be deducted from this amount.