UNITED INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED Vs. NITIN KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ONLY question urged at the time of hearing of this appeal by Mr. Behal is that his client is not liable to indemnify respondent No. 1 as there was no privity of contract to indemnify the said respondent by his client. At the same time while buttressing this submission and after referring to Section 157 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Mr. Behal further submitted that while transferring the vehicle which was admittedly insures under a valid policy of insurance on the date of its accident, respondent No. 2 had not intimated the appellant in this behalf so as to enable respondent No. 1 to claim benefit of the continuance of the policy that was there in favour of respondent No. 2 issued by the Insurance Company-appellant in this case. In support of his this submission Mr. Behal relied on the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Complete Insulations (P) Ltd. v. New India Assurance Company Ltd. , I (1996) CPJ 1 (SC)=i (1996) CLT 22 (SC)=ii (1996) ACC 536 (SC)=air 1996 SC 586. Thus he prayed for allowing the appeal and setting aside the impugned order.

(2.) ON the other hand, Mr. Verma learned Counsel for the respondent submitted that mere non-information being sent to the appellant regarding transfer of vehicle by respondent No. 2 in favour of transferee cannot be allowed to be used as a defence to reject the claim as is urged on behalf of the appellant in the present case.

(3.) THE determination of this question need not detain us any further in the light of the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. v. S. Babaiah and Ors. , I (1998) ACC 720=1999 ACJ 1126 (AP ). In this case scope of Section 157 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, was examined and discussed. Thereafter, the Court came to the conclusion that the insurance policy would be deemed to have been transferred under the deeming provision of Section 157 (1) of the Act of 1988 supra. This view was reiterated again by the said Court in the case of National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. K. Yadamma and Ors. , 2007 ACJ 1343.