SANTOSH SINGHAL Vs. ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner/complainant, who owned an Oil Tanker bearing no. RJ04-GA-1746, got the same insured with the respondent company for the period from 22.02.2008 to 21.02.2009. On 13.01.2009, when oil was being unloaded from the above referred tanker in a factory at Bagru and the driver and cleaner were sitting inside the driver cabin, the tanker, all of a sudden caught fire on a rear side. The report of the incident was given to the Insurance Company and the complainant claims to have spent a sum of Rs. 8,47,941/- on repair of the insured truck. A Surveyor, M/s. Prakash Surveyor Company was appointed by the Insurance Company to verify the cause of the incident and assess the loss to the complainant. As regards the cause of the fire, the Surveyor, inter-alia, stated as under:-

(2.) The Insurance Company then appointed M/s. Singh Investigation Bureau & Recovery Cell to investigate into the matter. In its report, the Investigator, inter-alia, opined as under:-

(3.) It would thus be seen that the Investigator based his report on assumptions, since he did not record the statement of any witness who may have seen oil heater being put under the tanker, in order to heat the oil which the tanker was unloading. There is no photograph showing any heater kept below the oil tanker. There is no technical evidence, from a forensic laboratory/expert opining that heating of the oil by an artificial mean such as a heater could be the cause of fire. In the absence of any direct or technical evidence, the Investigator, in our opinion, was not justified in claiming that the fire had occurred on account of some oil having been placed under tanker. The onus was on the Insurance Company to prove that the fire had occurred due to some negligence on the part of the insured. That having not been proved, the repudiation of the claim was not justified.