Case: National Insurance Co.Ltd Vs. Rattani

company to prove breach of conditions of the insurance policy and the same having not been done, the judgment of the Tribunal cannot be assailed.In this connection our attention has been drawn to the following findings of the Tribunal :- "In the present case the evidence on record indicates that deceased Sunil Kumar and other injured were occupying the offending vehicle as being representative of the owner of the goods. No evidence was produced on behalf of the Insurance Company to the effect that deceased and injured were gratuitous passengers.......All the injured petitioners were cross examined at length but nothing useful to the case of Insurance Company could be exacted from them. They deposed that for carrying members of marriage party there was one bus. Hence it is observed that Insurance Company failed to prove that insured had violated the terms and conditions of the Insurance Policy. Deceased Sunil and injured Maru and Rameshwar were not gratuitous passengers in the offending vehicle being representative of the owner of the goods." 11. Ordinarily we would not have entered into the realm of appreciation of evidence but as the High Court failed and/or neglected to do so, we have no other option but to undertake the job of the High Court. The first information report which was brought on record, clearly proceeded on the basis that the deceased and the other injured persons were members of the marriage party. 12. Even if the submission of Mr. Subramonium Prasad that in the truck the goods offered by way of gift by the bride party were being transported is correct, the deceased and others could not have become the representatives of the owner of the goods. Even otherwise in view of the averments made in the claim petition and the first information report the said contention cannot be accepted. Furthermore in their depositions the witnesses examined on behalf of the claimants themselves stated that about 30 - 40 persons were traveling in the tempo truck. All 30 - 40 persons by no stretch of imagination could have been the representatives of the owners of goods, meaning thereby, the articles of gift. 13. The question as to whether burden of proof has been discharged by a party to the lis or not would depend upon the facts and circumstances of the case. If the facts are admitted or, if otherwise, sufficient materials have been brought on record so as to enable a court to arrive at a definite conclusion, it is idle to contend that the party on whom the burden of proof lay would still be liable to produce direct evidence to establish that the deceased and the injured passengers were gratuitous passengers. As indicated hereinbefore, the First Information Report as such may or may not be taken into consideration for the purpose of arriving at a finding in regard to the question raised by the appellant herein, but, when the First Information Report itself has been made a part of the claim petition, there cannot be any doubt whatsoever that the same can be looked into for the aforementioned purpose. 14. An admission made in the pleadings, as is well-known, is admissible in evidence proprio vigore. We, thus, are of the opinion that the Tribunal as also the High Court committed a serious error in opining that the insurance company was liable. Reliance placed by the learned counsel on a decision of this Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Baljit Kaur and Others [(2004) 2 SCC 1] is misplaced. The question which arose for consideration therein was as to whether the words "any person" shall include a gratuitous passenger despite the amendment made in Section 147 of the Act by reason of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 1994. Following New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Asha Rani [(2003) 2 SCC 223] , it was categorically held: "20. It is, therefore, manifest that in spite of the amendment of 1994, the effect of the provision contained in Section 147 with respect to persons other than the owner of the goods or his authorized representative remains the same. Although the owner of the goods or his authorized representative would now be covered by the policy of insurance in respect of a goods vehicle, it was not the intention of the legislature to provide for the liability of the insurer with respect to passengers, especially gratuitous passengers, who were neither contemplated at the time the contract of insurance was entered into, nor was any premium paid to the extent of the benefit of insurance to such category of people." In National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Cholleti Bharatamma and Others [(2008) 1 SCC 423] , this Court categorically held: "27. The learned counsel appearing for the respondent, submitted that from the aforementioned finding, it is evident that the respondent was travelling as the owner of the goods. We do not think that the said submission is correct. PW 2, in his evidence, stated:"I am doing tamarind business. I witnessed the accident which took place about 3 years back at about 6 a.m. at Borrampalem junction beyond Talluru. At the time of the accident I was in the crime lorry by the side of the driver. Myself and 6 others were carrying tamarind in that lorry belonging to us. We boarded the lorry along with our load of tamarind at Dharamavaram to go to Rajanagaram. We were selling the tamarind at Rajanagaram in retail by taking the tamarind there in our lorry from our village of Dharamavaram."28. The Tribunal, therefore, correctly recorded that according to PW 2, he was travelling with his goods as owner thereof and not the deceased." We, therefore, in the facts and circumstances of the case, have no hesitation to hold that the victims of the accidents were travelling in the truck as gratuitous passengers and in that view of the matter, the appellant herein was not liable to pay the amount of compensation to the claimants. 15. For the reasons aforementioned, the

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 1

Reasoning from the judgment:
1[ds]Ordinarily we would not have entered into the realm of appreciation of evidence but as the High Court failed and/or neglected to do so, we have no other option but to undertake the job of the High Court. The first information report which was brought on record, clearly proceeded on the basis that the deceased and the other injured persons were members of the marriagequestion as to whether burden of proof has been discharged by a party to the lis or not would depend upon the facts and circumstances of the case. If the facts are admitted or, if otherwise, sufficient materials have been brought on record so as to enable a court to arrive at a definite conclusion, it is idle to contend that the party on whom the burden of proof lay would still be liable to produce direct evidence to establish that the deceased and the injured passengers were gratuitousindicated hereinbefore, the First Information Report as such may or may not be taken into consideration for the purpose of arriving at a finding in regard to the question raised by the appellant herein, but, when the First Information Report itself has been made a part of the claim petition, there cannot be any doubt whatsoever that the same can be looked into for the aforementionedadmission made in the pleadings, as is well-known, is admissible in evidence proprio vigore. We, thus, are of the opinion that the Tribunal as also the High Court committed a serious error in opining that the insurance company was liable.