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United India Ins. Co. Ltd. v. Sunil Kumar & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 1143Decided 24 Nov 2017
Civil Appeal No. 9694 of 2013
Justice Ranjan Gogoi · Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel · Justice Navin Sinha

Background

This judgment answers a question of law; it does not decide the case itself. In an insurer's appeal against a motor accident claimant, a three-judge Bench was constituted to decide whether an insurer can raise a defence of negligence in a claim under Section 163A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. An earlier two-judge ruling in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Sinitha had taken a different view.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final judgment in the case itself. The Court held that no defence of negligence is permitted under Section 163A, because it is a no-fault provision giving compensation on a structured formula. A related question on Section 170 of the Act was pending before a larger Bench in another case, so the Court directed that the appeal be listed before a regular Bench for disposal on merits after that question is answered. In the meantime it directed release of 50% of the compensation deposit to the claimant.

Lesson Learnt

An insurance company cannot defeat a claim under Section 163A by arguing that the victim was negligent. There is no final ruling yet on the claimant's final compensation.

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

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