SC: For requisitioned vehicles, the government pays for third-party losses

New Delhi: Supreme Court He said that if a private car requisitioned by the regional government was involved in an accident, the liability would be borne by the government rather than the insurance company.A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and NK Singh said: “If a vehicle is requisitioned for public function and an accident occurs during the requisition, the liability shall lie with the requisitioning agency and not with the insurance company engaged by the owner for regular and voluntary use of the vehicle.”A bus owned by Kidzee Corner School in Gwalior city was requisitioned by the district administration for the gram panchayat elections. During this period, in January 2010, a motorcycle hit and killed a motorcyclist. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded compensation of Rs 5.10 lakh with interest at 6%. The SC increased the compensation to Rs 27 lakh in 2024.A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and NK Singh dismissed the district administration’s plea that assigning responsibility to the civil authorities would send the wrong signal, saying when the government requisitions a private car, the owner is deprived of custody.Judge Carroll said in writing the judgment, “During this period, the owner neither directed its use nor derived any benefits from it. It stands to reason that in this case, if an unfortunate event occurs, the liability should be borne by the purchasing agency, not by the insurance company hired by the owner.”The SC said, “The mandatory deployment of public functions cannot reasonably be described as ‘routine use’…Putting the blame on the insurance company…would result in the contract exceeding the risks agreed to cover.”