Injured Maruti Passenger’s ₹1.37 Lakh Award Stands As Madras HC Finds Insurer Failed To Prove Overloading

The claimant was injured when the Maruti car in which he was travelling struck a roadside tree on 28 May 2007.

He sought compensation of ₹5,00,000. The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal found the car’s driver negligent and awarded ₹1,37,775.

The insurer appealed, contending that the car carried more occupants than the policy permitted and that this breach absolved it of liability.

The appeal was brought under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act.

The Court relied on National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Anjana Shyam, 2007 (2) TN MAC 193 (SC), and Vimal Kanwar v. Kishore Dan, (2013) 7 SCC 476, and referred to National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Laxmi Narain Dhut, 2010 (10) TAC 398.

It applied the principle that excess passengers, without more, do not justify completely denying an insurer’s statutory liability towards a third-party claimant.

The insurer did not produce material, despite the Court’s direction, showing that the number of claims or occupants exceeded the policy’s permitted capacity.

The record showed three earlier claim petitions, making this the fourth; the insurer’s contrary contention remained unsupported.

Further, the Court held that the allegation of excess passengers alone could not completely disown liability to the claimant, and found no satisfactory evidence of overloading sufficient to support the insurer’s defence.

It dismissed the appeal and confirmed the award of ₹1,37,775, directing the insurer to deposit the award amount with accrued interest and costs within eight weeks, if not already deposited.

The claimant was permitted to withdraw the amount in accordance with law.