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Aruna Attri and Ors. vs. Sonu Kashyap and Ors. (Oriental Insurance Co Ltd)

Motor Accident Claims Appeal · 2026:DHC:7982Decided 18 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
MAC.APP. 1190/2014CNR: DLHC012289982014
Justice Anish Dayal

Background

The family of a motorcyclist killed by a truck in 2007 appealed a Tribunal award that had held the truck's driver and owner personally liable for compensation, while exonerating the insurance company on the ground that the insurance "cover note" produced by the family was forged and did not actually cover the offending truck.

Decision Breakdown

The Court examined testimony from the insurance company's own officials showing that the cover note numbers relied upon by the family had, in fact, been issued for entirely different vehicles and persons, not the truck involved in the accident. It held that a mere photocopy of a cover note, unsupported by proof of premium payment, cannot establish a valid insurance contract, and that the "pay and recover" principle from earlier Supreme Court cases did not apply here because, unlike those cases, there was no proof any legitimate insurance transaction had ever occurred for this vehicle. The appeal was dismissed, though the Court urged the insurance company to investigate how the fraudulent cover notes came to exist in the first place.

Lesson Learnt

For an insurance company to be made liable in a motor accident claim, the claimant must show more than a photocopied cover note: real proof that a genuine insurance policy existed and premium was actually paid is essential.

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