JUDGMENT :

Can an Insurance Company be directed to pay compensation to a gratuitous passenger in a vehicle covered by a statutory policy is the point that emanates for consideration in the appeal.

2. The relevant background facts for the determination of the appeal are as follows:-

2.1. The appellant (Insurance Company) was the second respondent in OP (MV) 235/2014 on the file of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Thrissur. The first respondent was the claimant and the second respondent (driver) was the first respondent in the claim petition. The parties are, wherever the context so requires, referred to as per their status in the claim petition.

2.2. The petitioner had filed the claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short ‘the Act’), claiming compensation on account of the injuries that she allegedly sustained in an accident that occurred on 11.12.2013. The petitioner while travelling in an auto rickshaw bearing registration No.KL-08-F-1761 (vehicle), driven by the first respondent, through the Irinjalakuda-Thrissur road, when the vehicle reached Madrassa Poochinnipadam, the first respondent recklessly swerved the vehicle and it hit against a compound