In Brief
An insurance company challenged a tribunal's award of Rs. 1,60,860 compensation for the death of a man in a motor vehicle accident. The insurer argued that the driver's licence was illegible and therefore unverified. The Supreme Court held that where the vehicle owner had taken precautions to verify the driver's valid licence before hiring him, the insurer cannot evade liability merely because the licence copy was subsequently illegible. The insurer is liable unless the owner knowingly permitted a driver with a fake licence—negligence alone does not absolve the insurer. The appeal was dismissed.
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