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Legal Case Shots

Court judgements broken down into the case type, how the decision played out, and the lesson worth remembering, with the full judgement available as a PDF.

Labour & Industrial LawSupreme Court of India

Panganti Vijaya v. United India Insurance Company Limited & Ors.

Not available · 2026 INSC 9Decided 5 Jan 2026
Not available
Justice Vikram Nath · Justice Augustine George Masih

Background

A vehicle owner initially denied his deceased driver was actually his employee, but later admitted it under cross-examination; the High Court had overturned a compensation award relying on the earlier denial.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court restored the original award, holding the owner's later sworn admission, obtained only after the Court issued arrest warrants to compel his appearance, outweighed his earlier self-serving denial.

Lesson Learnt

A party cannot escape liability by denying an obvious fact in written pleadings and then contradicting that denial under oath later; courts weigh the totality of evidence, including such admissions.

Panganti Vijaya v. United India Insurance Company Limited & Ors. – Legal Case Shots | LegalAware