Motor Vehicle Act. Insurer issuing policy beyond fitness certificate period cannot avoid liability on the ground that the vehicle did not have fitness certificate at the time of accident. Karnataka High Court.

The Branch Manager, The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd vs Mallesh Miscellaneous First Appeal 2417/2010 decided on 25 September 2020.

Judgment Link: http://judgmenthck.kar.nic.in/judgmentsdsp/bitstream/123456789/342171/1/MFA24217-10-25-09-2020.pdf

Relevant Paragraphs: 11. The third contention which has been raised by the Insurance Company is that the vehicle did not have  a permit to ferry passengers and/or that it did not have a fitness certificate. This contention cannot be raised by the Insurance Company after having  issued the insurance policy, if at all the vehicle did not have a fitness certificate, the insurance policy itself ought not to have been issued and if the  fitness certificate would expire during the period the insurance policy is in operation, the Insurance Company ought to have restricted the operation of the insurance policy till the time, the fitness was valid. Thus, once the insurance policy has been issued, the Insurance Company cannot deny its liability on the ground that there is no fitness certificate. As regards the aspect of there being no permit, a perusal of the document indicate that  there is no evidence, which has been laid by the Insurance Company nor any stand taken in this regard. Hence the said contention cannot be taken up during the course of this appeal. Hence, this contention is also rejected.

Compiled by S. Basavaraj, Advocate, Daksha Legal.