In Brief
On 23 February 2010, a 25-year-old coolie was injured when the tractor he was travelling in crashed due to the driver's negligent driving. The tribunal awarded him ₹9,02,324 compensation with 60% permanent disability. The High Court upheld this amount but absolved the insurer of liability, finding the claimant travelled in breach of policy terms (the tractor was insured only for agriculture purposes). The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal, holding the insurer must pay the awarded compensation to the claimant with liberty to recover from the vehicle owner—rejecting the insurer's complete exemption while maintaining the compensation amount as justified.
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