In Brief
Bharti AXA General Insurance refused to pay a personal accident insurance claim after the insured's son was killed in a motorised glider crash while on vacation in Canada. The insurer argued the glider was not a 'standard aircraft' and the deceased was not a 'fare-paying passenger' in an 'air charter company'. The Supreme Court held that the glider qualified as an 'aircraft' under the Aircraft Act, that 'standard type of aircraft' must be interpreted liberally in favour of the insured in the absence of contractual definition, that the aircraft was duly licensed, that the sightseeing operator constituted an air charter company under ICAO definitions of 'own-use charter', and that a person paying a fixed fee for a sightseeing flight is a 'fare-paying passenger'. The insurance claim was upheld.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.