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Sant Lal v. Rajesh & Ors. Etc.

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 581Decided 3 Jul 2017
Civil Appeal Nos. 8395-8396 of 2017
Justice Arun Mishra · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

A tractor-trolley combination driven by a person holding only a light motor vehicle (LMV) licence, without a separate endorsement to drive a "transport vehicle", was involved in an accident. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal held this was a breach of the insurance policy's conditions since the vehicle counted as a transport vehicle requiring a special endorsement, and after the insurer paid the claimant, it was given the right to recover that amount from the vehicle owner. The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld this, and the owner appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court applied the answer given by a three-judge bench in Mukund Dewangan v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., holding that a person with a licence to drive a light motor vehicle is entitled to drive a transport vehicle falling within the light motor vehicle category, such as a tractor-trailer, without needing any separate endorsement. Since there was consequently no breach of the insurance policy's conditions, the insurer's right to recover the payout from the owner could not stand. The appeals were allowed, the recovery right was set aside, and liability for the compensation was held to be joint and several between the owner, driver, and insurer (i.e., the insurer must itself bear the payout along with the owner/driver, not claw it back).

Lesson Learnt

A regular (light motor vehicle) driving licence is sufficient to legally drive a tractor-trailer or similar light transport vehicle, no extra "transport vehicle" endorsement is required, so insurers cannot deny or later reclaim a motor accident payout on that specific ground.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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