Car in drunk driving accident not shielded by insurance cover: SC
The Supreme Court has upheld the stand of an insurance company that it is not liable to pay the insurance of the car under provision of the insurance contract since the person driving the car at India Gate was under the influence of intoxicating liquor.
Ruling in the favour of Iffco Tokio General Insurance Company, the court said: “We can take judicial notice of the fact that the roads in the Capital City, particularly in the area, where the accident occurred, are sufficiently wide and the vehicle dashing against the footpath and turning turtle and catching fire, by itself, does point to, along with the fact that the alcohol which was consumed manifests contemporaneously in the breath of the driver, to conclude that alcohol did play the role, which, unfortunately, it is capable of producing.”
The car — a Porsche — owned by Pearl Beverages Ltd that met with the accident was driven by a 27year-old youth who was under the influence of alcohol. The co-passenger, also in his late twenties, had consumed liquor. The accident took place on the night of November 22, 2007 at India Gate near children park.
Setting aside the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) order as “erroneous”, a bench comprising Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice K.M. Joseph in a judgment pronounced on Monday (April 12) noted that “the road is so wide and the thinnest possible traffic at 2.25 am and without the slightest excuse, the car hitting the footpath with massive force, not being able to maintain control, hitting the electric pole and the wall of the children park that there can be no slightest excuse of the accident.”