Karnataka High Court Orders SIT Probe Into 2010 Accident Claim
The Karnataka High Court has ordered a fresh investigation by a Special Investigation Team into an alleged conspiracy to obtain compensation from an insurance company by fabricating the circumstances of a 2010 motorcycle accident. The court also dismissed the claimant’s appeal against the rejection of his compensation petition and imposed costs of Rs 10,000.
Justice Geetha K B directed the Inspector General of Police, Western Range, Mangaluru, to constitute the SIT and submit its report within three months. The direction followed the court’s examination of records relating to an accident that took place on September 15, 2010, near Shiroor village on the Ankola-Kumta road in Uttara Kannada district.
Giridhar Pai, a resident of Mandanageri village in Kumta taluk, had sought Rs 15 lakh in compensation. He claimed that he had suffered serious injuries after the motorcycle on which he was travelling as a pillion rider lost control and overturned. The motorcycle belonged to his father, Neelakant Pai, who had lent it to Nagappa Pundalik Pai, another villager.
United India Insurance Company disputed the claim and alleged that the vehicle had been falsely implicated in the accident. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Kumta rejected the claim on November 28, 2016. Pai subsequently appealed to the High Court.
The High Court found several discrepancies in the account presented in support of the claim. One involved the first complaint, which identified Giridhar Pai and gave his address while stating that he was riding the motorcycle. About a month later, the complainant submitted a further statement saying that he had learnt Giridhar was only a pillion rider after meeting him at Vivekananda Hospital.
The court noted that Giridhar had not been admitted to the hospital on the date when the complainant claimed to have met him. It also observed that Nagappa, later presented as the motorcycle’s rider and shown to possess a valid driving licence, entered the account only about a month after the accident. Until then, Giridhar himself had been treated as the suspected rider.
The judge also found Giridhar’s explanation of how he allegedly became a pillion rider difficult to accept. His account that Nagappa left him by the roadside in the middle of the night and returned to his village in a truck was described by the court as unusual and lacking credibility.
The court said the material on record provided sufficient reason to doubt the claim and pointed to the possibility of collusion among the claimant, his father and the alleged rider to secure compensation from the insurer. The findings concern the circumstances recorded in the compensation proceedings and led the court to uphold the tribunal’s rejection of the claim.
The SIT investigation will examine the circumstances of the accident, the subsequent statements and the compensation claim. The Inspector General of Police, Western Range, Mangaluru, is required to constitute the team and submit its report to the court within three months.
