Kochi: The family of an accident victim cannot be denied compensation merely on the grounds that he drove the vehicle in an inebriated condition, the Kerala High Court has held.
The court upheld an order of the Ombudsman directing the National Insurance Compnay Ltd to pay Rs 7 lakh insurance amount to the dependents of a motorcycle rider who died after being run over by a tourist bus in 2009.
The Ombudsman, while awarding the compensation, had held that the cause of the accident was the negligence of the tourist bus driver and not the mishap victim riding the motorcycle after consuming alcohol.
Justice Shaji P Chaly, while dismissing the plea of the insurance company, observed that merely because a person had consumed alcohol, it cannot be held as a reason for the accident. The court cited the police probe report stating that the bus was on the wrong side and the motorcycle rider was keeping to his lane.
The mishap happened on May 19, 2009, when a tourist bus coming from the opposite direction hit a motorcycle driven by the Kerala Water Authority official while trying to overtake a car.
The insurance company contended that tests had revealed alcohol over the prescribed limit in the victim's blood and he was in an inebriated condition at the time of the mishap. Hence, the insurance claim can’t be allowed.
Following this, the victim’s wife lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman who held that there is a "difference” between the consumption of alcohol and the expression ‘under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.'
