In a special leave to appeal filed before the Supreme Court against a judgment and order dated 19-05-2022, passed by the Orissa High Court in a motor accident claim, a Bench comprised of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Prasanna B. Varale refused to interfere with the compensation awarded, but urged the inquiry regarding the fraudulent involvement of vehicles in accidents to be expeditiously concluded.
The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. (petitioner) challenged the award of compensation to respondents 1 to 3 on the grounds that the subject vehicle, alleged to have caused the accident, was involved in multiple accidents and that this was a case where the subject vehicle had been named as the offending vehicle fraudulently so that undue benefit could be claimed from the insurance coverage.
In light of the facts, the Court directed the authorities of the State of Odisha to conduct a broader inquiry into whether the allegations were true. The Court noted that the latest compliance report, submitted after the completion of the inquiry, indicated that the subject vehicle had been involved in four other accidents for which further inquiry was being conducted. However, regarding the present case, it was noted that the subject vehicle was the one involved in the accident.
Thus, the Court refused to interfere in the impugned order awarding compensation to the respondents and directed the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Cuttack (MACT), to pay the entire compensation deposited by Oriental Insurance to the respondents within four weeks.
The State submitted that the investigation team had uncovered a wide-ranging racket in which all stakeholders may be involved, and that many arrests had also been made. The court granted the State liberty to obtain permission from the competent authority to interrogate or question the persons concerned.
The Court expressed its expectation for the matters to be logically concluded expeditiously and appreciated Oriental Insurance for persuading the Court to delve into the investigation, which ultimately led to the revelation of shocking facts. In view of the broader picture indicating that this illegal activity may not be limited to Odisha, the Court requested Oriental Insurance to provide a list of all insurance companies that provide vehicle, medical, life, crop, fire, and marine insurance, among others.
The matter has now been listed on 18-03-2026.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Mr. H. Chandra Shekhar (AOR), Mr. Jhadav Vishal, Mr. Vishal M. Vandaganoor
For Respondents – Mr. Jay Savla (Sr. Adv), Ms. Renuka Sahu (AOR), Mr. Ajay Mohapatra, Mr. Pitambar Acharya (Advocate General), Mr. Srisatya Mohanty (AOR), Ms. Sakshi Mittal, Ms. Sukanya Das, Ms. Visakha Raghuram
