Tribunal orders driver to pay Rs 21 lakh, exempts insurer from compensation

A Gurugram tribunal held the insurer not liable after finding the car driver had no valid licence in a fatal crash case. The ruling shifts the Rs 21.30 lakh compensation burden entirely to the vehicle owner and driver.The crane, which was being used for construction work, suddenly gave way and fell inside the society premises crushing parked cars below.A Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Gurugram has held that an insurance company is not liable to pay compensation in a fatal road accident case after finding that the car driver did not have a valid driving licence at the time of the crash, police said on Wednesday.The tribunal directed the car owner and the driver to jointly pay Rs 21.30 lakh, along with 9 per cent annual interest, to the family of 19-year-old Deepak Tiwari, who died after the accident in March 2024.According to police, Deepak was riding his motorcycle from Naurangpur to Rampura on the evening of March 13, 2024, when a speeding car coming from the opposite direction hit his two-wheeler near Mittal Farm House. He was critically injured and was first taken to a private hospital and later referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where he died during treatment on March 17, 2024.An FIR was registered against the car driver, and police invoked Section 3/181 of the Motor Vehicles Act along with other relevant sections of the then Indian Penal Code. Police said the chargesheet also recorded that the driver did not possess a valid driving licence. After examining the records, the police investigation and witness statements, the tribunal concluded that the driver was operating the vehicle without a valid licence at the time of the accident.The tribunal said the vehicle owner and the driver failed to produce any evidence in court to challenge this finding. Treating this as a clear violation of the insurance policy terms, the tribunal exempted the insurance company from paying compensation and placed the entire liability on the vehicle owner and the driver, police said. The court of Presiding Officer Narendra Sura ordered that Deepak's mother, Brijbala, be paid Rs 20.42 lakh, while his sisters, Priya Tiwari and Mansi, are to receive Rs 44,000 each. Police said the amount is to be paid jointly by the vehicle owner, Himgiri Automobiles Private Limited, and the driver, Chandrashekhar, a resident of Shivdaspur village in Varanasi. Brijbala is a native of Pulandar village in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district.Police said the criminal case is now at the prosecution evidence stage in the court of Judicial Magistrate Shridev Rai, with the next hearing scheduled for August 31, 2026. The tribunal's order means the compensation in the case will be recovered from the vehicle owner and the driver, and not from the insurer.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 5, 2026 21:05 IST