In Brief
An insured company claimed insurance coverage after a Porsche suffered total damage in a high-speed crash near India Gate, Delhi. The insurer denied the claim invoking an exclusion clause protecting it against claims where the driver was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Though no blood or breath test was conducted, the driver's medical examination recorded 'smell of alcohol' and he was convicted for rash driving. The National Commission set aside the insurer's denial, requiring proof of exceeding 30 mg/100 ml blood alcohol (Section 185, Motor Vehicles Act standard). The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the exclusion clause is distinct from the criminal standard; the totality of circumstances—including contemporaneous smell of alcohol, absence of explanation for the accident, guilty plea to rash driving, and driver's failed case of non-consumption—establishes the driver was under alcohol's influence without requiring laboratory proof.
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