In Brief
National Insurance Company challenged a High Court order directing it to pay Rs. 10,57,800 compensation to the legal representatives of a deceased businessman who died in a motor vehicle accident. The deceased was the owner-driver of the vehicle whose own rash and negligent driving caused the accident. The Supreme Court held that an owner-driver who causes an accident through his own negligence cannot be treated as a third party under the Motor Vehicles Act. The insurer's liability was limited to personal accident coverage under the policy, fixed at Rs. 2,00,000. The Court allowed the appeal, restricting compensation to the contractual limit with interest at 9% per annum.
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