Kerala High Court exonerates insurance company of liability

Kerala High Court exonerates insurance company of liability

No compensation for a person sharing the driver's seat in an auto-rickshaw

The Kerala High Court has ordered that an insurance company is not liable to pay compensation if, while sharing the seat of the driver, the owner or a passenger is injured in a three-wheeler goods carriage.

Exonerating Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, the court held that if in such an eventuality an accident occurs, the liability is upon the owner of the vehicle. "Such an action violates the insurance policy conditions," the court said.

Single judge Justice A Badharudeen set aside the liability imposed on Bajaj Allianz by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) to compensate a person who was injured while sharing the driver's seat of a goods auto rickshaw.

The case put up by the appellant that the injured was accompanying the goods carrier along with the construction material to the worksite. He was sharing the seat of the driver and met with an accident during the course.

The court cleared that the insurance policy vividly mentioned that the seating capacity of the vehicle involved in the accident was for one person and nobody was permitted to travel in the carrier other than the driver.

The insurer had first approached the MACT seeking exoneration from liability, on the ground that the injured was a gratuitous passenger in a goods vehicle. However, the tribunal did not allow the appeal as it found that the injured person had accompanied the driver of the vehicle.

The court passed the order that the insurance company was not liable to pay the amount and the liability was upon the owner of the vehicle.