Narbada Devi and Ors. Vs. H.P. State Forest Corporation & Anr. [Civil Appeal No. 6379 of 2010]
Insurance company not liable as the death caused is not of accident
Brief: In the instant Civil Appeal, the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that insurance company not liable for compensation as the death of the insured was not accidental which was pre-requisite as per the terms of insurance policy. Further, the insured was admittedly drunk at the time of death and thus, the liability of the insurer company was further exempted.
RELEVANT PARAGRAPH
12. From a bare perusal of the Insurance Policy, as
quoted supra, it is clear that only if the insured sustains any bodily injury resulting
solely and directly
from accident caused
by outward, violent and visible
means, the Insurance Company would be liable to indemnify the
insured. Therefore, as per the Insurance Policy, only accidental death of the
insured shall be indemnified. As noted above, the PostÂMortem Report clearly indicates that there were no
injuries found on the body of the deceased. The probable cause of death as per
the Final Opinion in the PostÂMortem Report is asphyxiation caused by alcohol consumption
and regurgitation of food into larynx. As such, we find it
difficult to conclude
that the deceased’s
death was accidental. Further,
the expert opinions of Dr. D.S. Puri and Dr. D.J. Das Gupta (supra) also show
that the cause of death was due to consumption of alcohol. In light of the
explicit terms of the Insurance Policy, we find that the National Commission
and the State Commission have rightly held that the deceased’s death was not
accidental, and that the Insurance Company would not be liable to settle the
Appellants’ claim.
17. Be
that as it
may, the Provisos of
insurance policy specifically
disclose that compensation will not be paid in respect of injury of the injured
if he is under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The relevant Proviso 4 of
the insurance policy reads thus:Â
“PROVISOS
Provided always that the company shall not be liable under this policy to:
4) Payment of compensation in respect of death, injury or disablement of the insured from (a) intentional (illegible) suicide or attempted suicide, (b) whilst under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drug (c) or (illegible) by insanity, (d) arising or resulting from the insured committing any breach of the law with criminal intent.”
The aforesaid Proviso
4 makes it
amply clear that
the injured is not entitled to compensation since on facts it is proved that
he was intoxicated and that was due to intoxication.
18. In light of the aforementioned observations, we
decline to interfere with the
Impugned Order passed
by the National Commission. Accordingly, the Appeal
stands dismissed. No order as to costs.