SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.

1. The travails of an individual litigant are writ large in this case where the very purpose of the insured (i.e., M/s. Mercury Rubber Mills, a partnership firm) to take out insurance policies from the insurer(s) (i.e., M/s. Oriental Insurance Company Limited and M/s. National Insurance Company Limited) for covering machinery breakdown and loss of profits on that account from time to time has been defeated.

2. The extract from the Insurance Manual filed by the insurer in respect of such insurance policies shows the objective: with rapid industrialization, the machinery utilized was becoming more complicated with the result that repairs entail delays and complications bringing the entire work to a standstill even when small, but vital parts of machine fail. It was, thus, essential for the industrialists to ensure against such contingency. However, another insurance policy to cover the consequential losses that may be suffered by the individual using the machinery following the breakdown was also necessary and, thus, such kind of policies came into being.

3. The facts of the present case are that the insured is engaged in the manufacture of power tran