Published on: December 29, 2023 at 12:40 IST
Court: High Court of Delhi
Citation: Indiwar Parijat V. National Insurance Co. Ltd. (2023)
Honourable High Court of Delhi has held that the registered owner of the vehicle cannot absolve himself of his responsibility merely by contending that he had sold the vehicle prior to that date, when he had taken no steps to sale registered with the Registration Authority or at least, intimating this fact to the Registration Authority and the Insurance Company. If such registered owner has allowed a third person, may be under a contract of sale, to use the vehicle, he remains responsible for their action. If such third person further allows a minor or a person not holding a valid driving license to drive the vehicle, vicariously, the registered owner becomes responsible for such action of the third party.
It is held that in case the driver of the vehicle did not have a licence at all, the liability to make payment of compensation fell on the owner since it was his obligation to take adequate care to see that the driver had an appropriate licence to drive the vehicle.
18. The Insurance Company merely steps in as an indemnifier of the compensation which the registered owner of the Offending Vehicle, as being a primary person liable, has to pay to the victims of the road accident. The registered owner cannot absolve himself of the liability by contending that he had transferred the offending vehicle to a third person prior to the date of the accident. Neither the victims of the road accident nor the Insurance Company can run after such persons whom the registered owner claims to have transferred the offending vehicle, and cannot be burdened with following a trail of successive transfers, which are not registered with the Registering Authority.
The Insurance Company has no contractual or other relationship with such transferee of the Offending Vehicle. The liability of the Insurance Company arises only because of the contract of insurance between the registered owner of the offending vehicle and itself. It is only because the registered owner is liable to pay compensation to the victim of the road accident caused by the vehicle that the liability of the Insurance Company arises. If the registered owner of the offending vehicle is to seek any benefit of such contract in form of indemnifying himself against the liability, such registered owner is also liable to reimburse the compensation that may be paid by the Insurance Company to the victims of the road accident, if the Insurance Company is otherwise entitled to the same.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra