Bengaluru: Karnataka high court has directed an insurance company to compensate the family of a man who died after falling from a multi-utility vehicle (MUV), holding that accident victims should not be left without relief merely because of technical policy exclusions.The case arose after Shivanand Khannanavar suffered fatal injuries on falling from a Mahindra Jeep that was allegedly being driven in a rash and negligent manner on April 26, 2010, along NH-4 in Belagavi district. Following his death, his wife, children, and mother approached the motor accident claims tribunal (MACT) seeking compensation.The tribunal found that the accident was due to the negligence of the Jeep driver and awarded the family a compensation of Rs 7.3 lakh. However, it relieved the insurance company of liability and directed the vehicle owner, MB Malagoudannavar, alone to pay the sum.The insurer argued that the vehicle was covered under an “act only” insurance policy, which is the most basic form of motor insurance required by law. Such policies generally cover liability towards third parties — people outside the vehicle who suffer injury or damage due to an accident — but do not automatically cover occupants unless an additional premium is paid.According to the insurer, the deceased was travelling as an occupant of the vehicle and therefore did not fall within the category of persons covered under the policy. Since no extra premium was paid to extend coverage to passengers, the insurer contended that it had no legal obligation to compensate the family.Accepting this argument, the tribunal held that the insurance company was not liable and directed the vehicle owner to pay the compensation. Challenging this finding, the victim’s family approached the high court.After perusing the materials on record, Justice Ravi V Hosmani noted that the only issue was whether the insurer could completely escape liability because the policy did not specifically cover the deceased.Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Sunita and Ors. vs United India Insurance Co. Ltd case, the judge applied the “pay and recover” principle — a legal mechanism under which the insurer is directed to first pay compensation to the victim or the victim’s family and is then permitted to recover the amount from the vehicle owner if there has been a breach of policy conditions. Justice Hosmani directed United India Insurance Company to pay a modified compensation amount of Rs 14 lakh to the claimants and recover the amount from the insured thereafter.Forcing the family to pursue the vehicle owner for compensation would defeat the welfare objective of the Motor Vehicles Act, which is intended to provide timely relief to accident victims and their dependants, the judge further noted while partly allowing both appeals filed before the court.— Prapti Idnani
