The former Executive Director of Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICBL) and three other officials involved in the Home Minister’s false vehicle insurance claim say Thimphu District Court’s judgement was extremely harsh and not merited.
They say the act is unrelenting, insidious and vindictive persecution for them. They added that the claim over Nu 200,000 was genuine like any other claims. The recent Thimphu district court’s judgement sentenced them for a prison term ranging from one month to one year in connection to the Home Minister’s case.
According to a letter from the officials, they say, the court has ignored their evidence and expert opinion on the entire business process. They said the court instead heeded to contradictory, unsubstantiated and vague statements from various sources to convict them.
They say the allegation on change of insurance cover is baseless since the comprehensive insurance was issued prior to the accident. It stated that since the client had the valid comprehensive insurance, the payment made to the claimant was valid and legitimate.
Regarding the blank receipt signed and issued by the workshop, they said, it was not used for payment, rather it was used for comparative analysis for which the claim was further reduced and it has benefited the company. The blank receipt, they argue, has not benefited any of the claim committee members.
According to them, since the claim was legitimate, the claim committee made the decision to settle the claim. Had this claim been not genuine, the case could have escalated to the management and settled the claim through Ex-gratia payment on the business ground, like in the past wherein the claimants didn’t even have valid insurance policies at the time of accidents, yet were paid on business grounds.
Not satisfied with the judgement, including Dagap Workshop’s owner, they are appealing to the High Court.
