A valid permit covering the accident location precludes an insurer’s recovery against the vehicle owner.

Trilok Singh died in a collision between his motorcycle and a truck insured by the appellant.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded his mother ₹4,78,000 with interest at 7% per annum and directed the insurer to satisfy the award, with liberty to recover the amount from the truck’s owner because it found no valid Uttarakhand permit had been produced.

In appeal, the owner produced the truck’s original permit, countersigned for Uttarakhand and valid on the accident date, covering Haldwani.

The insurer also challenged the Tribunal’s assessment of the deceased’s monthly income at ₹6,000.

Whether the truck had a valid permit for the accident location and, consequently, whether the insurer could be granted recovery rights against the owner.

Whether the Tribunal’s assessment of the deceased’s monthly income at ₹6,000 warranted interference.

The judgment identifies no particular statutory provision or precedent as the basis for its decision.

It applies the principle that an insurer’s recovery right based on a permit breach cannot stand where the vehicle had a valid permit authorising its use at the accident location and no violation of the permit’s conditions is established.

The original permit, admitted as additional evidence, was countersigned by the competent Uttarakhand authority and was valid from 28 November 2008 to 31 October 2013.

Because Haldwani was a plain-area location within the permit’s territorial scope, and no breach of its conditions was shown, the Tribunal’s finding of a permit violation—and the resulting recovery right—could not be sustained.

The Court found no basis to disturb the Tribunal’s income assessment in light of the deceased’s age, education, occupation, and the record.

The insurer was directed to satisfy the award, including interest at 7% per annum; the ₹25,000 statutory deposit was to be remitted to the Tribunal, and the insurer was directed to deposit the remaining ₹2,26,500 with interest within eight weeks.