Based on Landmark Chengalvaraya Naidu case here, the division bench of Karnataka High Court dismissed the case with heavy cost of Rs1,00,000/-!!!
From Para 4,
4. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and having perused the original TCR, we decline to grant indulgence in the matter and anguishingly impose heavy costs on the claimant for the following reasons:
(a) The accident allegedly happened on 30.08.2014 at 7.30 a.m. when the offending motorbike bearing Registration No.KA-34/U-1161 had dashed claimant’s motorcycle from behind and as a result thereof he suffered some injuries; all this may be taken to be true, of course with reluctance,
since there is no formal challenge to this finding by the insurer by way of appeal or cross-objection; had it been otherwise, we are not sure that we would have sustained this finding; be that as it may.
(b) Admittedly, claimant had the medical history of coronary problem when the accident happened; because of the alleged injuries caused by the accident, he was treated at the Government College & Hospital i.e., VIMS-Ballari, as an out-patient; the Wound Certificate, dated 30.08.2014, issued by the General Duty Medical Officer at Ex.P.5specifically states that the “injuries are simple in nature”; this opinion was formed by the said Medical Officer after examination & on the basis of radiological tests, as is stated in the very Certificate itself; there being no reason to doubt the same, the said opinion has to be treated as the expert opinion under Section 45 of the Evidence Act, 1872 and therefore, carries a lot of weight, nothing emerging from the record for discounting it’s probative value.
(c) Later, the claimant moved to Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences at Bengaluru wherein he had admittedly undergone coronary related operation & treatment in a long hospitalization; in his affidavit-evidence, at para 2, 3 & 4, he has stated that the said accident resulted in “severe
injuries over chest, head, forehead, nose, face, abdomen, hands & legs” and that all this happened only because of the accident which has “decreased his life span due to heart injury”; all this is false, to say the least; neither in his claim petition nor in his affidavit evidence, he has mentioned anything about his pre-existing heart ailment; as already mentioned above, he had not suffered any injury to the chest, much less heart nor to any vital organ; had it been otherwise, the Wound Certificate at Ex.P.5 would have mentioned the same; there is no reason for the Government Doctor in VIMS to write a false or wrong certificate; that is not the case of claimant, either;
(d) Even in the cross-examination, dated 09.06.2016, he falsely asserts that he suffered the heart ailment only because of the accident though the medical records of the Heart Hospital even remotely do not whisper about it; on the contrary, Dr. Lakshmi Narayana K., whom he had examined as P.W.3 himself has stated that the heart ailment of the kind i.e., blockages do not occur abruptly; this apart, by no stretch of imagination, it can be stated that blockages in the heart could happen by the kind of the vehicular accident. A perusal of deposition of the claimant given as P.W.1 not only does not generate confidence but appears to have been designed for extracting huge money from the insurer; this is nothing short of perjury.
(e) The claimant has also suppressed the reimbursement of huge expenses incurred by him for the heart treatment under “Yashashvini Co-operative Health Care for Farmers” a welfare Scheme of the Government, both in his claim petition & affidavit evidence; in his cross-examination, he has not denied the receipt of money but he only feigns ignorance as to the same having been not mentioned in the claim petition; it is said that, truth somewhere & somehow trickles out, and that has happened in this case; Ex.P.9A is the final bill issued by the Heart Hospital; it mentions the Corporate Sponsorship as “Yashashvini Co-operative Farmers Health Care Trust” with Account No.1043; thus, the claimant being a “clandestine liar” cannot be believed at all; he has designed his case on fraud, fabrication & duplicity and therefore, he is liable to be non-suited vide S.P. Chengalvaraya Naidu (dead) by L.Rs. V. Jagannath (dead) by L.Rs. and others, AIR 1994 SC 853.
And the Medical Witness turned out to be a ‘regular liar’ in the Courts!!!
5. As to Dr. Lakshmi Narayana K., of Prakash Clinic, Ballari, & his evidence vide P.W.3 being unworthy of credence,
a) the claimant had examined this doctor as P.W.3 in support of his case; it is submitted at the Bar that his ‘Sanad’ has been suspended on the ground of malpractice; it is also there in his cross-examination; we have noticed several other cases, huge in number wherein he has deposed as a Medical Witness in accident cases; in his cross-examination, dated 07.01.2017, he contradicts the version of the claimant-P.W.1 that the claimant had not visited his hospital personally; he also admits claimant having undergone the operation/treatment for coronary blocks; he also admits having not stated the factors based on which he has issued the Disability Certificate at Ex.P.8; any prudent Medical Practitioner would have mentioned these things including the coronary disease; he has prepared his Disability Certificate dated 17.03.2016 in such a clandestine way that the alleged disability of the claimant is occasioned by the injuries sustained by him in the accident; this is nothing short of perjury, to which claimant is also a party.
So, the High Court said…
(c) We are pained to see cases of the kind coming in considerable numbers nowadays; something has to be done to eradicate the evil of perjury, fraud & fabrication; a mere non-suiting of the unscrupulous litigants by throwing their case papers out through the court window would be militantly insufficient; something more drastic needs to be devised, so that message reaches out loudly to the unscrupulous class; in this case, we are made to spend more than an hour of valuable time in turning every page of the original Trial Court Record that runs into 656 pages, keeping other older cases at a bay; it is a sheer waste of huge public time & money occasioned by this perjured case of the appellant; this is not a happy thing to happen; we are of the considered view that this appeal should be dismissed with exemplary & penal cost of Rs.1,00,000/-.
Also the cherry on top of the cake…
Liberty is reserved to the insurer to take up civil and criminal proceedings for the act of perjury perpetrated by the claimant i.e. P.W.1 and Dr.Lakshmi Narayan K., i.e. P.W.3, who had issued the Disability Certificate at Ex.P.8, in accordance with law; it hardly needs to be stated that the delay brooked in taking such proceedings is liable to be discounted because of pendency of this appeal for all these years.
Citations :
Other Sources :
Index of Perjury Decision here.
