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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA, DHARWAD BENCH
G BASAVARAJA, J, SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM
United India Insurance Company Limited – Appellant
Versus
Jayavant Products Limited – Respondent
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. appeal against trial court judgment. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. plaintiff's insurance claim and circumstances of loss. (Para 3 , 5 , 6) |
| 3. defendant's arguments against plaintiff's claim. (Para 4 , 10 , 12) |
| 4. defendants challenged the claim citing policy violations and lack of evidence. (Para 8 , 9) |
| 5. court assessed the evidence and found no grounds for interference with the trial court's ruling. (Para 13) |
| 6. burden of proof and presumption of authenticity. (Para 14 , 22) |
| 7. evidence considered and assessment of loss. (Para 23 , 24) |
| 8. final order dismissing the appeal. (Para 25) |
JUDGMENT :
G. BASAVARAJA, J.
1. The appellant in this appeal is assailing the judgment and decree dated 31st August, 2019 passed in Original Suit No.243 of 1998 by the Principal Senior Civil Judge, Hubballi (for short hereinafter referred to as the “trial Court”).
2. For the sake of convenience, the parties in this appeal are referred to with their rank and status before the trial Court.
3. Facts in nutshell leading to this appeal are, Plaintiff filed suit against defendants seeking recovery of Rs.3,53,70,000/- with interest at the rate of 21% per annum on insurance amount of Rs.227.04 lakh. It is stated in
The court upheld the principle of indemnity and clarified the burden of proof on the insured to demonstrate losses incurred due to a fire, affirming the trial court's award of damages.
The duty to disclose material facts runs throughout the continuance of the contract of insurance and it is binding on both parties to the contract.
(1) Fire - On merits, once it is established that there was fire, it is settled law that it is upon the Insurer to prove that the fire was intentionally caused by the Insured.(2) Burden of Proof - wh....
(1) Surveyor Report – Surveyor Report is an important piece of evidence and it has to be given due weight, though it is not sacrosanct and it can be displaced by leading a cogent evidence.
“In a claim for loss by fire, origin of fire could be quite immaterial, so long as the factum of fire and factum of damage established.”
Insurance claims must be covered by specified perils, excluding clauses strictly construed favoring the insured, as the proximate cause of fire damages is immaterial absent specific exclusions.
Claim pending – Keeping a claim pending for such a long time without any decision clearly amounts to unfair trade practice on the part of the appellant/opposite party insurance company.
The court held that disputes regarding insurance claims involving factual determinations are not suitable for resolution under Article 226, necessitating civil proceedings or arbitration.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the petitioner cannot be held liable for the damage caused by the fire accident due to the inaction of the opposite party no.2 in challenging ....
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