Mukesh Kumar Agarwal v. Kiran Tigga, Kiran Tigga

--------- Mr V.P. Singh, Senior Advocate Mr Shankar Lal Agarwal, Advocate Ms Ayushi, Advocate For Resp. No.6/Ins.Co.: Mr Bibhash Sinha, Advocate Mr Manish Kumar, Advocate --------- 09/Dated: 12.06.2026

1. By a separate order, the delay in instituting this appeal has been condoned.

2. With the consent of and at the request of learned counsel for the contesting parties, this appeal is taken up for final disposal. Neutral Citation No. 2026:JHHC:16998

3. Mr V.P. Singh, the learned Senior Counsel for the appellant, on instructions, submitted that this appeal is being pressed only as against a limited portion of the impugned award dated 26th of September 2022 by which a pay & recovery order has been made by the Tribunal. He clarified that no other challenge to the remaining portion of the award was being pressed.

4. Insofar as the pay & recovery portion of the impugned award is concerned, Mr Singh submitted that the offending truck owned by the appellant was fully insured with the respondent-Insurance Company. He submitted that the pay & recovery order was made only because the offending vehicle was transferred from the State of Chhattisgarh to the State of Jharkhand. He submitted that this could not be a ground for making a pay & recovery order. He further submitted that the vehicle involved was one and the same, and therefore, such an order could not have been made, and it operates very harshly against the appellant.

5. Mr V.P. Singh submitted that, along with the appeal memo, the appellant has produced some documents regarding the transfer of the vehicle from one State to another. He submitted that perusal of these documents would show that the vehicle was the insured vehicle and not some different vehicle.

6. Mr V.P. Singh, on instructions, submitted that the appellant has already deposited Rs. 10.00 Lakhs in this Court, and if this Court considers remanding the matter to the Tribunal for deciding only on the issue of pay & recovery, the appellant will have no objection if this amount is retained in this Court or transferred to the Tribunal. Neutral Citation No. 2026:JHHC:16998

7. In addition, Mr V.P. Singh, on instructions, made a clear and categorical statement that until this issue of pay & recovery is decided on remand, the offending vehicle, i.e. JH-06N-0495, will not be transferred. He submitted that some directions could be issued to the Tribunal to expeditiously decide this issue so that no prejudice is caused to the appellant or the respondent-Insurance Company.

8. Mr Bibhash Sinha submitted that no additional document can be produced with the appeal memo without even invoking the provisions of Order 41 Rule 27 of the CPC. In any event, he submitted that the documents do not establish that the vehicle which was transferred was the offending vehicle. He therefore disputed the contentions made on behalf of the appellant.

9. However, without prejudice and quite fairly, Mr Bibhash Sinha submitted the matter could be remanded redetermination of the pay and recovery issue, and that an opportunity could be afforded to the appellant and the respondent- Insurance Company to produce both oral and documentary evidence.

10. Mr Sinha submitted that the amount of Rs. 10.00 Lakh may be transferred to the Tribunal so that the same could abide by the orders of the Tribunal on this limited issue of pay & recovery, on remand. He further submitted that this Court must record the undertaking made on behalf of the appellant that the vehicle No. JH-06N-0495 will not be transferred by the appellant, and further, Neutral Citation No. 2026:JHHC:16998 the Registration Authorities should be directed not to effect any transfer of this vehicle.

11. Considering the fair approach adopted by the learned counsel for the respondent-Insurance Company and in the interests of justice and considering that the appellant is an individual and is now being foisted with the liability to pay an amount over Rs. 75.00 Lakhs, the impugned award is interfered with only to the limited extent of setting aside the pay & recovery order contained therein. The rest of the award would remain intact, and there is no question of recovering the compensation amount already paid to the claimants. As noted at the outset, the challenge pressed in this appeal was limited to the direction for pay and recovery.

12. Accordingly, the matter is remanded to the Tribunal for deciding the issue of pay & recovery afresh. The Tribunal will permit the appellant and the respondent-Insurance Company to lead both documentary and oral evidence, limited to this aspect. Full opportunity would be given to the appellant and the respondent- Insurance Company to cross-examine each other’s witnesses should they depose before the Tribunal.

13. Based upon the evidence produced by the parties, the Tribunal should decide the issue of pay & recovery afresh in accordance with the law.

14. The Tribunal is directed to dispose of the remanded proceedings as expeditiously as possible and in any event within four months from the date of the appearance of the parties before it and the production of the certified copy of this order. Neutral Citation No. 2026:JHHC:16998

15. The parties must cooperate with the Tribunal and not seek any unnecessary adjournments in the matter. If any witnesses have to be produced, they must be promptly produced and cross- examined.

16. The amount of Rs. 10.00 Lakhs deposited by the appellant in this Court, together with interest, if any, that shall have accrued on this amount, and the statutory deposit amount of Rs. 25,000/- along with interest, if any, that has accrued on this amount, must be transferred by the Registry to the Motor Vehicle Accident Claim Tribunal at Jamshedpur. The Tribunal shall invest this amount, and the invested amount shall be subject to the final orders to be made on the issue of pay & recovery pursuant to the remand.

17. If the Tribunal makes a pay-and-recovery order and no stay order is secured within six weeks of its pronouncement in open Court, the Tribunal shall direct its registry to transfer the deposited amount, with interest, to the Respondent Insurance Company. Similarly, if the Tribunal does not deem it fit to make a pay and recovery order, the deposited amount with interest must be returned to the Appellant if no stay order is secured by the Respondent Insurance Company within six weeks of pronouncement in open Court.

18. In addition, the statement made on behalf of the appellant that the Truck bearing Registration No. JH-06N-0495 will not be transferred pending a decision on the pay & recovery issue, and for a period of six weeks thereafter if no pay and recovery order is ultimately made by the Tribunal and in any event, without seeking the leave Neutral Citation No. 2026:JHHC:16998 of the Tribunal, is accepted as an undertaking to this Court. The appellant must abide by this undertaking.

19. Further, the Registration Authorities at Jharkhand, where the Truck No. JH-06N-0495 is registered, are directed not to allow the transfer of this vehicle without seeking the leave of the Motor Vehicle Accident Claim Tribunal, Jamshedpur or without the appellant producing any order from the Tribunal permitting such transfers.

20. Once again, it is clarified that except for the portion relating to pay & recovery, the impugned judgment and award dated 26th of September 2022 is not interfered with. Further, all contentions of the appellant and the respondent-Insurance Company on the aspect of pay & recovery are left open to be decided by the Tribunal based on the evidence that the parties may lead and in accordance with the law. This Court has expressed no opinion on this issue.

21. Since this is a dispute between the appellant and the respondent- Insurance Company, and the payment to the Claimants is not in issue, the learned counsel for the parties agree that no notice to the claimants is necessary to decide the remanded matter.

22. The appellant and the representative of the respondent-Insurance Company or their Advocates must now appear before the Motor Vehicle Accident Claim Tribunal at Jamshedpur on the 6th of July 2026 at 10:30 a.m. and produce the certified copy of this judgment and order. The Tribunal at Jamshedpur must take cognisance of the certified copy and dispose of the remanded matter accordingly. Neutral Citation No. 2026:JHHC:16998 The certified copy is expedited and must be issued by the Registry within a week of its being applied for by the parties or their Advocates.

23. This appeal is disposed of in the above terms, without any order for costs.

24. Any other interim applications, if any, do not survive and are disposed of. (M. S. Sonak, C.J.) June 12, 2026 N.A.F.R. Manoj/Nandini/Cp.2 Uploaded on 15.06.2026