Skip to main content

Insurer Has No Liability Once There Is Breach Of Condition Of Insurance Policy

The Supreme Court, in MS Middle High School Vs HDFC Ergo General Insurance Co Ltd, has upheld a high court judgment which held that once there is breach of condition of insurance policy, the liability cannot be fastened on the insurer.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court relying on the judgement of theSupreme court in National Insurance Company Limited vs Challa Bharathamma and Others, (2004) 8 SCC 517, New India Assurance Company Limited vs Asha Rani & Ors., (2003) 2 SCC 223 and National Insurance Company Limited vs Nicolleta Rohtagi & Ors., (2002) 7 SCC 456. had affirmed the findings of the tribunal that the  offending vehicle did not possess a permit and that constituted breach of condition in insurance policy. The said judgment was assailed through a special leave petition.

Dismissing the SLP, the Supreme Court also observed that the contrary view in a judgment of full bench of Kerala High Court, in the case titled Augustine VM vs Ayyappankutty and Ors, is disapproved to the extent holding that insurer was liable even if there was breach of conditions of policy.

In Augustine VM case, the full bench had held that the insurer cannot claim exoneration from its liability to indemnify the owner of a vehicle in respect of injuries to third parties if the vehicle gets involved in the accident after the expiry of period of validity of fitness certificate or permit, merely on account of such technical violations.

Comments

Post a Comment

Most viewed this month

Appellate authorities under Special Statutes cannot be asked to condone delay

Madras High Court in R.Gowrishankar vs. The Commissioner of Service Tax has held that Appellate authorities cannot be asked to condone the delay, beyond the extended period of limitation A Division Bench comprising of Justices S. Manikumar and D. Krishnakumar, made this observation while considering an appeal filed against Single Bench order declining to set aside the order made in the condone delay petition filed by the petitioner to condone 223 days in filing the appeal before the Commissioner of Service Tax (Appeals). Article referred: http://www.livelaw.in/appellate-authorities-special-statutes-cannot-asked-condone-delay-beyond-extended-period-limitation-madras-hc/
Post a Comment
Read more

'Seize assets to pay damages to accident victim'

Her story might be an inspiration for the physically challenged but justice has remained elusive for her. In 2008, a bus accident left research engineer S Thenmozhi, 30, paraplegic. In April 2013, the motor accident claims tribunal directed the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) to provide her a compensation of 57.9 lakh. However, TNSTC refused to budge and on Tuesday a city court ordered attaching of movable assets of the transport corporation. Thenmozhi was employed in C-DOT, a telecom technology development centre in Bangalore. On July 21, 2008, she was coming to Chennai in a private bus. Around 2am, the bus had a flat tyre and the driver parked it on the left side of the road near Pallikonda in Vellore district on the Bangalore-Chennai highway. While the tyre was being changed, a TNSTC bus of Dharmapuri division hit the stationary bus. The rear part of the bus was smashed and passengers were injured. Thenmozhi who had a seat at the back of the bus suffered...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mumbai ITAT rules income of offshore discretionary trust is subject to tax in India

The Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has recently determined the following issue in the affirmative in the case of Manoj Dhupelia: Should the income of an offshore discretionary trust be subject to tax in India, if no distributions have been made to beneficiaries in India? The question arose from appeals filed by individual beneficiaries in relation to a Lichtenstein-based trust, the Ambrunova Trust and Merlyn Management SA (the Trust) with the ITAT. It is important to note that the individuals in this case were amongst those first identified by the Government of India (GOI) as holding undeclared bank accounts in Lichtenstein. The ITAT ruling raises the following issues: Taxation of Trust Corpus: ITAT classified the corpus of the trust as "undisclosed income" and declared it taxable in the hands of the beneficiaries. Taxation of Undistributed Income: ITAT refused to draw a distinction between the corpus and undistributed income from the trust and declared i...
Post a Comment
Read more