2018 Supreme(SC) 1120
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
MADAN B. LOKUR, DEEPAK GUPTA, JJ.
S.RAJASEEKARAN - Petitioner
Versus
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS - Respondent
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 295 of 2012
Decided on : 20-07-2018
Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioner: Mr. Gopal Subramanium, Sr. Adv. (A.C.)(NP) Mr. Gaurav Agarwal, Adv. (AC) Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, Adv. Mr. Jayavardhan Singh, Adv. Mr. Pavan Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Manoj Swarup, Adv. Ms. Lalita Kohli, Adv. Mr. Sajid Imam Naqvi, Adv. for M/s Manoj Swarup & Co.
For the Respondent: Mr. Krishna Kumar, AOR Mr. B. Vinodh Kanna, Adv. Ms. Srujana Suman Mund, Adv. Mr. Ajit Kumar Sinha, Sr. Adv. Mr. R. Bala, Adv. Mr. S.S. Ray, Adv. Ms. Snidha Mehra, Adv. Mr. Santosh Kr. Vishwakarma, Adv. Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR. Ms. Aarti Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, Adv. Mr. S.L. Gupta, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Adv. Ms. Shalu Sharma, AOR Mr. Mahabir Singh Mangla, Adv. Mr. Varinder Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. M.K. Thakur, Adv. Mr. Rajesh K. Sharma, Adv. Ms. Prerna Mehta, Adv. Mr. Guntur Prabhakar, Adv. Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, Adv. Mr. Sayooj Mohandas M., Adv. Mr. Naman Kamboj, Adv. Mr. Gopal Singh, Adv. Mr. Manish Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kumar Milind, Adv. Mr. A.N.S. Nadkarni, Adv. Ms. Ruchira Gupta, Adv. Mr. S.S. Rebello, Adv. Mr. Bhaskar Chhakara, Adv. Mr. Anurag Sharma, Adv. Mr. Shishir Deshpande, Adv. Ms. Hemantika Wahi, Adv. Ms. Jesal Wahi, Adv. Ms. Vishakha, Adv. Ms. Mamta Singh, Adv. Ms. Puja Singh, Adv. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, Adv. Ms. Monika Gosain, Adv. Mr. Ashish Chouhan, Adv. Mr. Jaswant, Adv. Mr. Varinder Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. M. Shoeb Alam, Adv. Ms. Fauzia Shakil, Adv. Mr. Ujjwal Singh, Adv. Mr. Mojahid Karim Khan, Adv. Mr. Tapesh Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Mohd. Waquas, Adv. Mr. Aditya Pratap Singh, Adv. Mr. G. Prakash, Adv. Mr. Jishnu M.L., Adv. Mrs. Priyanka Prakash, Adv. Mrs. Beena Prakash, Adv. Mr. Nishant R. Katneshwarkar, Adv. Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Adv. Mr. R. Leishangthem Roshmani KH, Adv. Ms. Maibam Babina, Adv. Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, Adv. Mr. S. Bhowmick, Adv. Mr. Daniel Stone Lyngdoh, Adv. Mr. K.V. Kharlyngdoh, Adv. Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR Mr. Manish Yadav, Adv. Mr. M. Abdullah, Adv. Mr. Rohit Chandra, Adv. Mrs. K. Enatoli Sema, Adv. Mr. Edward Belho, Adv. Mr. Amit Kr. Singh, Adv. Mr. K. Luikang Michael, Adv. Mr. Z.H. Issac Haiding, Adv. Mr. Karan Bharihoke, Adv. Ms. Navkiran Balay, Adv. Mr. S.S. Shamshery, AAG Mr. Amit Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Singh, Adv. Mr. Ankit Raj, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Ms. Aruna Mathur, Adv. Mr. Avneesh Arputham, Adv. Ms. Anuradha Arputham, Adv. Ms. Simran Jeet, Adv. For M/s Arputham Aruna & Co. Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Adv. Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Adv. Mr. Mrityunjai Singh, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, Adv. Mr. Rituraj Biswas, Adv. Ms. Rachana Srivastava, Adv. Ms. Rachna Gandhi, Adv. Ms. Monika, Adv. Mr. Bhupesh Narula, Adv. Mr. K.V. Jagdishvaran, Adv. Mrs. G. Indira, AOR Mr. V. G. Pragasam, Adv. Mr. S. Prabu Ramasubramanian, Adv. Mr. S. Manuraj, Adv. Mr. P. K. Manohar, AOR Ms. Manjeet Chawla, AOR Dr. (Mrs.) Vipin Gupta, AOR Mr. Neelesh Singh Rao, Adv. Impleader Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, Adv.
The court mandated long-term third party insurance for new cars (3 years) and two-wheelers (5 years) to ensure victim compensation and recognized the right of pothole accident victims to seek compensation as a tortious claim due to municipal maintenance failures.
Headnote:(A) Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017 - Mandatory Third Party Insurance - Implementation of long-term insurance covers - To ensure victims of fatal road accidents and their legal representatives receive compensation, it is mandated that all general insurance companies issue a three-year third party insurance cover for new cars and a five-year third party insurance cover for new two-wheelers as a separate product or as part of a comprehensive insurance product - Insurance regulator to ensure online availability and easy renewal of such covers.
(B) Maintenance of Roads - Municipal Laws - Tortious Liability - Large number of fatalities occur due to potholes on roads resulting from failure of authorities to maintain roads effectively - Legal representatives of persons who lost their lives in such accidents are entitled to compensation as a tortious claim.
Facts of the case:
A significant percentage of vehicles on the roads lack mandatory third party insurance, leaving victims of fatal accidents and their legal representatives without compensation. Additionally, poor road maintenance and the prevalence of potholes have led to a high number of fatalities, indicating a failure of authorities responsible for road maintenance under municipal laws.
Findings of Court:
The court found the decisions to make long-term insurance mandatory for new vehicles to be reasonable and ordered their implementation. It further observed that fatalities resulting from potholes are a grave issue, and the failure of municipal authorities to effectively maintain roads entitles the legal representatives of deceased persons to seek compensation as a tortious claim.
Issues: Whether long-term third party insurance should be made mandatory for new vehicles to protect accident victims, and whether the failure of municipal authorities to maintain roads creates a liability for compensation for deaths caused by potholes.
Ratio Decidendi: Mandatory long-term third party insurance for new vehicles (three years for cars and five years for two-wheelers) is a reasonable measure to ensure that accident victims are not deprived of compensation. Furthermore, the failure of agencies obliged to maintain roads under municipal laws leads to fatalities that justify compensation under tort law.
Result: Directed that mandatory long-term insurance for new cars (3 years) and two-wheelers (5 years) be implemented from 1st September 2018 and requested a report on the determination of the quantum of compensation for deaths caused by potholes.
Legal Category Hierarchy
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insurance
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motor vehicle insurance
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third party insurance
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comprehensive insurance
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tort
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road safety
ORDER :
Report No.16
It is stated that the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017 is presently pending with the Rajya Sabha and it might be taken up for consideration during the current session of Parliament.
List the matter on 13th August, 2018.
Report No.17
We have perused Report No.17 with the assistance of learned amicus curiae, learned Additional Solicitor General and learned counsel appearing for some of the insurance companies.
On 12th July, 2018, we had issued notice to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDA). Despite service, no one is present on behalf of IRDA. No Objections have been filed by IRDA to Report No.17. Therefore, we take it that IRDA accepts
Report No.17.
In a meeting held by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety held on 26th March, 2018, it is recorded that there are about 18 crore vehicles plying on the road and only about 6 crore vehicles have the mandatory third party cover. In other words, 66% vehicles are running on the road without any third party insurance cover and the victims of accidents including those who have died and their legal representatives are not getting compensation because the vehicles are not insured.
To get over this problem being faced, particularly by persons who are legal representatives of victims of fatal road accidents, the Committee had detailed discussions with IRDA, General Insurance Council, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
After detailed discussions and taking into consideration the views of all the participants in the meeting, the following decisions were taken by the Committee:
“6. To sum up, the following decisions were taken:
(i) It shall be mandatory for all General Insurance Companies to issue a three year third party insurance cover for new cars and five year third party insurance cover for new two wheelers as a separate product or as part of a comprehensive insurance product. IRDA should issue instructions accordingly to all General Insurance Companies.
(ii) The GIC and IRDA should ensure that the legacy insurance data is also shared with MoRTH as soon as possible for its integration with Vahan data.
(iii) IRDA should ensure that all General Insurers follow its directions dated 01.01.2018 advising them to make available the third party insurance cover to all proposers on online channels; liaise with police authorities to facilitate issue and renewal of third party insurance cover and ensure its easy availability.”
In our opinion, the decisions taken by the Committee are eminently reasonable.
Accordingly, we direct that the decisions taken by the Committee should be implemented.
We make it clear that the third party insurance cover for new cars should mandatorily be for a period of three years and for two-wheelers, it should mandatorily be for a period of five years. This may be taken and treated as a separate product. We leave it to the insurance companies to deal with comprehensive insurance policies on a separate footing and it would be at the option of the owner of the vehicle to decide which policy should be taken except that the third party insurance is mandatory. The decision should be implemented from 1st September, 2018 on the policies sold.
Learned counsel for the General Insurance Council says that IRDA may be directed to clear and finalize the product immediately.
We accept the suggestion and direct the IRDA to clear and advertise the product immediately so that it can be implemented from 1st September, 2018 onwards.
No further orders are required to be passed on Report No.17.
Issue concerning potholes
It is a matter of common knowledge that there are large number of deaths as a result of fatal accidents which occur due to the potholes on the roads. This is particularly so in the city of Mumbai as well as in the city of Bengaluru.
There is little doubt that those who are obliged to maintain the roads under the municipal laws are not doing their job as effect
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