MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988
Section 166—Claim application—Transfer of claim—Accident occurred in Panaji, Goa and claimants were also residing at Panaji at the time of accident—Claimants seek transfer of claim application from MACT, Panaji to MACT, Aurangabad, Bihar where they shifted after the accident as they were left with no other source of livelihood after the death of the sole bread earner—Whether it is a fit case to transfer proceedings from ... Read more.

QUANTUM
Fatal accident—Deceased a girl aged 9, student of class IV—Claimants: parents—Tribunal took notional income at Rs. 15,000 p.a. and awarded Rs. 75,000 which was enhanced to Rs. 1,56,000 by the High Court—Apex Court considering that accident occurred in 1981 enhanced the compensation to Rs. 3,26,000 including Rs. 70,000 towards conventional heads. ... Read more.

QUANTUM
Fatal accident—Deceased a housewife aged 50—Claimants: husband, daughter and son—Tribunal awarded Rs. 2,50,000 which was affirmed by the High Court—Apex Court held that role of a homemaker is as important as that of a family member with tangible income and her contribution is of a high order therefore income of a homemaker cannot be less than the wages payable to a daily wager under Minimum Wages Act—Apex Court assessed income at Rs. 4,000 ... Read more.

QUANTUM
Fatal accident—Deceased aged 52, an agriculturist running a dairy farm and government contractor—Claimants: widow, daughter, son and mother—Tribunal took income at Rs. 50,000 p.m. and awarded Rs. 51,64,550—High Court fixed income at Rs. 20,000 p.m. and reduced the award to Rs. 22,48,000—Apex Court found that deceased was engaged in multiple activities and the land owned by him is not being cultivated after his death and considering the value ... Read more.

QUANTUM
Fatal accident—Deceased a girl, B.Tech (Computer Science) student—Claimants: parents—Tribunal awarded Rs. 47,10,000 which was reduced to Rs. 30,54,000 by the High Court—Apex Court held that High Court was justified in taking income at Rs. 20,000 p.m., adding 40 per cent of income for future prospects and deducting 50 per cent for personal expenses but it failed to award compensation under conventional heads—Apex Court allowed Rs. 88,000 ... Read more.

QUANTUM
Interest—Allowed at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of claim application till realization. ... Read more.

QUANTUM
Interest—Allowed at the rate of 8 per cent per annum from the date of filing of claim application till realization. ... Read more.

LIFE INSURANCE
Repudiation of claim—Suppression of material facts—Burden of proof—Death of assured in a train accident—Insurance company repudiated the claim on the ground that assured had taken multiple life insurance policies from other insurance companies but he answered the queries in the proposal form relating to existing policies in the negative suppressing the material fact and the said information was vital for its underwriting decision—District ... Read more.

MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988
Sections 147 (1) and 149 (2)—Motor insurance—Liability of insurance company—Pay and recover order—Tribunal and High Court exonerated insurance company from liability—Apex Court considering the facts of the case and exercising the powers under Article 142 of Constitution directed insurance company to pay compensation and then recover the amount from owner; further observing that owner has not challenged exoneration of insurance ... Read more.

WORDS AND PHRASES
‘Burden of proof’ and ‘onus of proof’—Distinction explained. ... Read more.

MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988
Section 147 (1) read with India Motor Tariff, IMT 70—Motor insurance—Act policy—Pillion rider—Liability of insurance company—Insurance company contended that risk of pillion rider is not covered under Act policy in view of IMT 70—Held: the question as to whether third party includes all the persons other than insured and insurer to be covered under an Act policy requires authoritative determination; matter referred ... Read more.

MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988
Section 157—Motor insurance—Transfer of vehicle—Transfer of certificate of insurance—Own damage claim—Liability of insurance company—Complaint filed by transferee owner for damage to insured vehicle was allowed by District Forum but State Commission disallowed the same—National Commission observed that transferee owner failed to inform insurance company about change in ownership within 14 days as provided under ... Read more.

TORT
Medical negligence—Damages—Patient underwent an operation for removal of appendicitis but post-surgery developed pain and on investigation it was found that a 2.5 cm needle was present below the anterior abdominal wall and another surgery was performed for its removal—Patient filed consumer complaint alleging medical negligence against the hospital and District Forum awarded Rs. 5,00,000 which was reduced to Rs. 1,00,000 by the State Commission—National ... Read more.

MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988
Section 173 read with Civil Procedure Code, 1908, Order 44, rules 1 and 3 (2)—Appeal—Court-fee—Exemption from payment—Indigent person—Claimant/award-holder filed appeal seeking enhancement of compensation along with application to file the appeal as an indigent person—High Court rejected the application on the ground that claimant had received compensation by way of Tribunal’s award therefore she is not indigent—Held: ... Read more.

Section 166 (1) (c) read with Hindu Succession Act, 1956, section 15 (1) (b)—Claim application—Legal representative— Death of married daughter, her husband and minor son in the same accident—Claim filed by parents of married daughter and her mother-in-law was made a party respondent—Tribunal apportioned the award equally amongst mother, father and mother-in-law of the deceased—Whether mother-in-law of the deceased, being the only surviving class-II legal heir, ... Read more.