{"id":324274,"date":"2024-06-13T13:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T07:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=324274"},"modified":"2024-06-20T17:22:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T11:52:17","slug":"sikkim-hc-upholds-mact-judgment-gratuitous-passenger-not-insured-in-act-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/06\/13\/sikkim-hc-upholds-mact-judgment-gratuitous-passenger-not-insured-in-act-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"[Comprehensive Policy or Act Policy] | \u201cNo premium was paid to cover a gratuitous passenger\u201d; Sikkim HC upholds compensation granted by MACT as per an Act Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sikkim High Court:<\/span> In an appeal made under Section 173<\/a> of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988<\/a> (“MVA”), the appellants had challenged the denial of compensation of Rs. 99,21,020 by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Gangtok (“MACT”), upon the demise of the deceased Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (ASI). The MACT in its impugned order had found that the insurance policy of the vehicle in accident that the deceased was travelling in, was an “Act Policy” and not a “Comprehensive Package Policy”.<\/p>\n

The single-Judge Bench of Meenakshi Madan Rai, J.<\/span>, agreed with the findings of the MACT vis-a-vis the Policy being an “Act Policy”. The Court found that the sum insured was Rs 50,000, for which a premium of Rs 25 had been deposited. The Court also found that no premium was paid to cover a gratuitous passenger which the deceased ASI undoubtedly was.<\/p>\n

Background<\/p>\n

The deceased was an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (ASI) with the Sikkim Armed Police, and was travelling from Hee Pechrek, West Sikkim to Pangthang, Gangtok, in an Alto vehicle, on 18-10-2021. At around 08.30 a.m., the vehicle met with an accident, resulting in the death of the ASI and the owner\/driver of the vehicle. Other occupants also sustained injuries.<\/p>\n

The appellants had claimed compensation of Rs. 99, 21, 020 (“compensation”), i before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Gangtok (“MACT”). The MACT observed that the insurance policy (“policy”) of the accidental vehicle was an “Act Policy” and not a “Comprehensive\/Package Policy”, and therefore, the appellants were only entitled to the extent of compensation in terms of “personal accident cover for unnamed passenger” as per the policy and granted a compensation of Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 100,000 for litigation costs.<\/p>\n

Aggrieved with the afore-stated decision, the appellants knocked on the doors of the High Court. They contended that the deceased was a third party as the occupant of the accidental vehicle, and therefore was fully covered by the insurance policy, and the respondent was liable to pay the entire compensation. The appellants, referring to Section 147<\/a> of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988<\/a> (“MVA”) further contended that the referred MVA provision does not distinguish between an “Act Policy” and a “Comprehensive Policy”).<\/p>\n

The respondent contended that the deceased was a gratuitous passenger, and since the instant policy was an Act Policy, the cover was limited to Rs. 50,000, as he would be covered under the personal accident cover alone.<\/p>\n

Issue: Whether the appellants are entitled to compensation and if yes, then who is liable to pay the compensation?<\/p>\n

Court’s analysis and Judgment<\/p>\n

The Court referred to National Insurance Co. Ltd.<\/span> v. Balakrishnan<\/span>, (2013) 1 SCC 731<\/a>, wherein the Supreme Court had distinguished between a Comprehensive\/Package Policy and Act Policy by stating that an Act Policy cannot cover a third-party risk of an occupant in a car, but a Comprehensive\/Package Policy would cover such risk. Considering the appellant’s contention that Section 147 MVA does not distinguish between the two kinds of policies, the Court referred to New India Assurance Co<\/span>. v. Asha Rani<\/span>, (2003) 2 SCC 223<\/a>, wherein the Supreme Court held the insurer will not be liable to pay compensation to a gratuitous passenger, deceased in the event of an accident of the insured vehicle.<\/p>\n

The Court also referred to United India Insurance Co. Ltd., Shimla<\/span> v. Tilak Singh<\/span>, (2006) 4 SCC 404<\/a>, wherein, the Supreme Court held that a statutory insurance policy that covered third parties, would not cover the risk of a gratuitous passenger, and the insurer owed no liability towards the deceased gratuitous passenger.<\/p>\n

The Court perused the insurance policy and found it was an Act Policy alone and included a Personal Accident Cover for Unnamed Passengers for Rs. 50,000 only. It was also pointed out that no premium had been paid by the insured to cover a gratuitous passenger.<\/p>\n

Therefore, based on the afore-stated analysis, the Court found no reason to interfere with the MACT’s judgment and upheld the same.<\/p>\n

[Jai Bahadur Subba v. SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd., 2024 SCC OnLine Sikk 37<\/a>, decided on 05-06-2024<\/span>]<\/p>\n

*Judgment authored by: Justice Meenakshi Raj Madan<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Advocates who appeared in this case :<\/p>\n

For the appellants:<\/span> Umesh Ranpal, Rubusha Gurung, and Laxmi Khawas, Advocates<\/p>\n

For the respondent:<\/span> Pawan Gurung, Advocate<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Court referred to National Insurance Co. Ltd v. Balakrishnan, wherein the Supreme Court had distinguished between a Comprehensive\/Package Policy and Act Policy by stating that an Act Policy cannot cover a third-party risk of an occupant in a car, but a Comprehensive\/Package Policy would cover such risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67011,"featured_media":320032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[69765,45651,2728,37084,30951,48603,69763,69764,54458,69636,30788],"class_list":["post-324274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-act-policy","tag-asi","tag-compensation","tag-comprehensive-policy","tag-mact","tag-motor-vehicle-insurance","tag-road-accident-death","tag-section-143-of-the-motor-vehicles-act","tag-sikkim","tag-sikkim-hc","tag-sikkim-high-court"],"yoast_head":"\nSikkim HC upholds MACT\u2019's judgment, gratuitous passenger not insured in Act Policy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sikkim HC upholds MACT\u2019's judgment, deceased travelling as gratuitous passenger not insured in Act policy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/06\/13\/sikkim-hc-upholds-mact-judgment-gratuitous-passenger-not-insured-in-act-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"[Comprehensive Policy or Act Policy] | \u201cNo premium was paid to cover a gratuitous passenger\u201d; 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Sikkim HC awards \u201cjust compensation\u201d to mother-in-law and minor child","author":"Editor","date":"May 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Court discussed the difference between a gratuitous passenger travelling in a private vehicle that met with an accident, and the deceased wife of the insured in the instant case who was held to be covered as a \u201cthird party\u201d. The distinction proved to be elemental in granting \u201cjust compensation\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sikkim High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sikkim-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sikkim-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sikkim-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sikkim-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":236808,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/06\/bom-hc-diverges-from-madras-karnataka-hcs-view-on-whether-mact-has-jurisdiction-over-personal-accident-claims-or-not-read-the-proposition\/","url_meta":{"origin":324274,"position":1},"title":"Bom HC diverges from Madras & Karnataka HC’s view on whether MACT has jurisdiction over personal accident claims or not: Read the proposition","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"October 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Bombay High Court:\u00a0S.M. Modak, J., examined the jurisdiction of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in regard to claim made by the insured\/owner under a personal accident claim against the insurance company. Liability of Insurance Company The circumstance involved in the present appeal about the liability of the insurance company to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":235511,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/09\/08\/madras-hc-can-mact-deal-with-claims-policies-other-than-accident-claims-provisions-of-mv-act-contractual-statutory-liability-cannot-be-equated-hc-elaborates\/","url_meta":{"origin":324274,"position":2},"title":"Madras HC | Can MACT deal with claims & policies other than Accident Claims provisions of MV Act? Contractual & Statutory liability cannot be equated: HC elaborates","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"September 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Madras High Court:\u00a0S.M. Subramaniam, J., while addressing a motor accident claim, observed that, Once, the policy is contractual in nature and the parties have signed the agreement, then such a contract cannot be construed or brought within the ambit of statutory liability. The Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":353399,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/07\/15\/sik-hc-deceased-workeman-compensation-for-son-motor-accident-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":324274,"position":3},"title":"\u2018Deceased a workman, not gratuitous passenger\u2019; Sikkim HC awards Rs 21.89 lakh compensation to parents for son\u2019s accidental death","author":"Editor","date":"July 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe deceased was a gratuitous passenger based on hearsay knowledge from persons who did not enter the witness box, but, on a preponderance of probabilities, the evidence on record clearly suggest that the deceased was a workman working with the owner.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"compensation for son\u2019s motor accident death","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/compensation-for-sons-motor-accident-death.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/compensation-for-sons-motor-accident-death.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/compensation-for-sons-motor-accident-death.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/compensation-for-sons-motor-accident-death.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":240108,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/12\/04\/chh-hc-s-66-mv-act-necessitates-permit-for-a-passenger-carrying-commercial-vehicle-to-make-insurance-company-liable-for-compensation-appeal-partly-allowed\/","url_meta":{"origin":324274,"position":4},"title":"Chh HC | S. 66 MV Act necessitates \u2018permit\u2019 for a passenger carrying commercial vehicle to make insurance company liable for compensation; Appeal partly allowed","author":"Editor","date":"December 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Chattisgarh High Court: A Division Bench of P. R. Ramchandra Menon and Parth Prateem Sahu JJ., allowed the appeal partly and modified the impugned award. The facts of the case are such that on 04-07-2012, claimant while returning with his friend form Masturi to his village Tikari on Tata Magic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":240028,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/12\/02\/mv-act-kar-hc-will-absence-of-valid-and-effective-dl-by-the-offending-driver-absolve-insurance-company-to-pay-compensation-pay-and-recover-principle-applied\/","url_meta":{"origin":324274,"position":5},"title":"[MV Act] Kar HC | Will absence of valid and effective DL by the offending driver absolve insurance company to pay compensation? \u201cPay and Recover\u201d principle applied","author":"Editor","date":"December 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Karnataka High Court: Ashok G. Nijagannavar, J., allowed the appeal and enhanced the compensation in light of the \u201cpay and recover\u201d principle. The facts of the case are such that the deceased was travelling as a Cleaner in the lorry when the driver of the said lorry drove in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case Briefs"","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}