AHMEDABAD: An insurance company is liable to pay compensation in an accident case involving a truck driver without a proper licence if it fails to establish negligence on part of the vehicle owner in verifying the driver’s licence, Gujarat high court has ruled.
The observation came while dismissing a petition by ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd, which challenged a motor accident claims tribunal‘s order awarding compensation to an accident victim.
One Jayesh Dharavia of Jamnagar died in a road accident involving a truck in 2010. The truck driver, Ramsingh Yadav, had a licence to drive a two-wheeler and a light motor vehicle, but not a truck, which falls in the category of a heavy motor vehicle. In 2014, a motor accident claims tribunal ordered truck owner Sureshchandra Aum Prakash and his insurer, ICICI Lombard, to pay Rs 19 lakh, along with 7.5% interest, as compensation to the deceased’s family.
The insurance company moved HC, contending that the driver was not authorised to drive the truck. Citing breach of policy terms and the vehicle owner’s failure in employing a qualified driver with a valid licence, the company argued that it could not be held liable to pay the compensation.
The HC said the insurer had failed to establish that it had requested the vehicle owner to verify the driver’s licence, or that it had drawn the owner’s attention to be vigilant in this regard. The insurer also could not prove that the owner knew that the driver’s licence was not valid, or that he employed the driver despite knowing.