Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
Amitendra Kishore Prasad, J
UNITED INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED – Appellant
Versus
KHIK BAI SHRIWAS – Respondent
CR No. 37 of 2026|CR No. 38 of 2026|CR No. 39 of 2026|CR No. 40 of 2026|CR No. 41 of 2026|CR No. 42 of 2026|CR No. 43 of 2026|CR No. 45 of 2026|CR No. 46 of 2026

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Pankaj Agrawal
For the Respondents:

The burden of proving a fundamental breach of insurance policy conditions, such as lay-up endorsements or lack of valid licenses, rests on the insurer; without cogent evidence, the insurer remains liable for compensation in motor accident claims.

Headnote:The insurer challenged awards passed by the 9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur, arising from an accident on 22.09.2021 involving a bus. The insurer contended that the vehicle was under a lay-up/hand-up endorsement and lacked valid registration, fitness certificates, and a valid driving license, which constituted a fundamental breach of policy conditions. The Tribunal had previously held that the insurer failed to discharge the burden of proving such breaches and fastened liability on the insurance company. The primary issue was whether the plying of the vehicle during a lay-up period and the alleged absence of a valid driving license absolved the insurer of liability. The Court reasoned that the burden of proving a fundamental breach of policy conditions rests squarely upon the Insurance Company. It observed that the Tribunal rightly relied on police-seized documents and the FIR to conclude the vehicle was insured and possessed valid documents, and that the insurer's evidence regarding the lay-up endorsement was insufficient and lacked evidentiary value. Consequently, all the civil revisions bearing CR No.37/2026, CR No.38/2026, CR No.39/2026, CR No.40/2026, CR No.41/2026, CR No.42/2026, CR No.43/2026, CR No.45/2026 and CR No.46/2026 are devoid of merit and are hereby dismissed

Table of Content
1. background of accident and initial tribunal award on insurance liability. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8)
2. insurer's arguments regarding policy breach and interest rates. (Para 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14)
3. court's validation of tribunal's findings based on evidence. (Para 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19)
4. dismissal of revisions based on limited revisional scope. (Para 20 , 21 , 22)

Order on Board

03.02.2026

1. Heard on I.A. No.02, applications for condonation of delay in preferring of present civil revisions.

2. On due consideration the grounds mentioned in the applications (I.A. No.02), the same are allowed. Delay in filing the present civil revisions are hereby condoned.

3. All the aforesaid civil revisions have been filed by the United India Insurance Company, the insurer of the bus bearing registration No. CG-11/DB/1822 (hereinafter referred to as the “offending vehicle”), challenging the awards dated 15.10.2025 passed by the learned 9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.) (in short “Claims Tribunal”), arising out of accident dated 22.09.2021. Since all the claimants were passengers of the offending vehicle and the claim petitions arose out of the same accident, these civil revisions have been heard together and are being decided by this common order.

4. For the sake of convenience and to avoid unnecessary repetition, the particulars of all the civil revisions filed by the insurer, whereby the awards dated 15.10.2025 passed by the learned 9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur, (C.G.) have been put to challenge, are being set out in a consolidated tabular form hereinbelow. The table contains the relevant details of each civil revision, including the corresponding MACT case numbers, the names of the respective claimants, and the quantum of compensation awarded by the Claims Tribunal.

Sl. No.	Civil Revision Number	MACT Number	Passed by	Order dated	Claimant’s name	Awarded amount
1.	37/2026	288/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Khik Bai Shriwas	Rs.34,984/-
2.	38/2026	285/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Radha Bai	Rs.25,000/-
3.	39/2026	351/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Shivratan Shriwas	Rs.70,060/-
4.	40/2026	289/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Jagmati Dhanwar	Rs.25,000/-
5.	41/2026	287/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Sanjana Vaishnav	Rs.25,000/-
6.	42/2026	350/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Chameli Bai Shriwas	Rs.99,524/-
7.	43/2026	257/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Narad Prasad Kashyap	Rs.25,000/-
8.	45/2026	290/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Bindia Bai Vaishnav	Rs.25,000/-
9.	46/2026	284/2022	9th Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur (C.G.)	15.10.2025	Smt. Bhuri Bai	Rs.37,433/-

5. The brief facts of the claim petitions, as emerge on record, are that on 22.09.2021, all the claimants were travelling as passengers in the offending vehicle, i.e. a bus bearing registration No. CG-11/DB/1822, for the purpose of performing Pinddaan (a sacred religious ritual). When the offending vehicle reached near Behar Valley, the driver, while driving the offending vehicle in a rash and negligent manner and without due care and caution, lost control over the offending vehicle, as a result of which the bus veered off the road and overturned (turtle down). Owing to the said accident, all the claimants/passengers sustained grievous injuries of varying nature and severity. Consequently, each of the injured passengers filed separate claim petitions before the learned Claims Tribunal seeking compensation for the injuries sustained in the said accident.

6. Before the learned Claims Tribunal, the driver and owner of the offending vehicle were arrayed as non-applicants; however, they chose not to contest

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