important points
The Motor Vehicles Act having been amended in 1994 the amendments would not be applicable to accidents prior to that date.
Well settled that ‘owner of the goods’ means only the person who travels in the cabin of the vehicle.

judgment

S.B. Sinha, J. —

1.Leave granted in all the Special Leave Petitions.

2.The question involved in these appeals centres around the liability of the insurance company to indemnif y the owner of the vehicle in respect of death of passengers travelling in goods carriage. The dates of accident being different, different provisions would apply. We would notice the law operating in the field at the outset and apply the same in each case separately.

3.The relevant portion of Section 147 of the Motor Vehicles Act (for short the Act), prior to its amendment, reads as under :

Requirements of policies and limits of liability.-

(1)In order to comply with the requirements of this Chapter, a policy of insurance may be a policy which-

(a)***

(b)insures the person or classes of persons specified in the policy to the extent specified in Sub-section (2)-

(i)against any liability which may be incurred by him in respect of the death of or bodily injury to any person or damage to any property of a third party caused by a or arising out of the use of the vehicle in a public place;

(ii) ***

Provided that a policy shall not be required-

(i)to cover liability in respect of the death, arising out of and in the course of his employment, of the employees insured by the policy or in respect of bodily injury sustained by such an employee arising out of and in the course of his employment other than a liability arising under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, in respect of the death of, or bodily injury to, any such employee-

(a)***

(b)***

(c)if it is a goods vehicle, being carried in the vehicle; or

(ii)except where the vehicle is a vehicle in which passengers are carried for hire or reward or by reason of or in pursuance of contract of employment, to cover liability in respect of the death of or bodily injury to persons being carried in or upon or entering or mounting or alighting from the vehicle at the time of the occurrence of the event out of which a claim arises–

4.The said provision underwent an amendment in the year 1994 by Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 1994 which reads as under :

147 - Requirements of policies and limits of liability

(1)In order to comply with the requirements of this Chapter, a policy of insurance must be a policy which-

(a)***

(b)insurer the person or classes of persons specified in the policy to the extent specified in sub- section (2)-

(i)against any liability which may be incurred by him in respect of the death of or bodily injury to any person, including owner of the goods or his authorised representative carried in the vehicle or damage to any property of a third party caused by or arising out of the use of the vehicle in a public place;

(ii)***

5.In New India Insurance Co. v. Satpal Singh & Ors.,1 [(2000) 1 SCC 237], this Court proceeded on an assumption that the provisions of 1939 Act and the provisions of 1988 Act are in pari materia.

6. In Satpal Singh (supra), interpreting the provisions contained in Sections 147 and 149 of the Motor Vehicles Act, this Court held :

“Hence, under sub-section (2), there is no upper limitation for the insurer regarding the amount of compensation awarded in respect of death or bodily injury of a victim of the accident. It is, therefore, apparent that the limit contained in the old Act has been removed and the policy should insure the liability incurred and cover injury to any person including owner of the goods or his authorised representative carried in the vehicle. The legislature has also taken care of even the policies which were in force on the date of commencement of the Act by specifically providing that any policy of insurance containing any limit regarding the insurers liability shall continue to be effective for a period of four months from commencement of the Act or till the date of expiry of such policy, whichever is earlier. This means, after the said period of four months, a new insurance policy consistent with the new Act is required to be obtained.

11. The result is that under the new A