Accident compensation – Death of Victim disputed in view of Postmortem Report

Deceased Prabhavati with her husband & son (claimants) was travelling in Alto car from Manglur to Jaigad – Ratnagir.   Respondent No.3 Driver and brother of the claimant No.1 lost control of the car, collided against the divider on the road and turned turtle.  In the said accident, she died.

The accident took place at 2.15 pm and the Doctor who performed the post mortem at 7 pm opined that the deceased would have died about 18 to 2 hours before conducting the postmortem.

The Insurer, therefore, disputed the liability of the accident compensation on the ground that the post mortem conducted on the same day showed that the death occurred about 18 to 20 hours before conducting post-mortem.

HELD that it is not the case of the Insurer that the body was planted or some one else was falsely included in the accident record. No such questions are put in the cross-examination of the witnesses.  Moreover, it is not possible to disbelieve the evidence of Respondent No.1 coupled with the papers including FIR, statements and Panchanama drawn after the accident.

Judgment dated 10.9.2024 of the Bombay High Court (AS) in First Appeal No.252 of 2021 of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd  Vs. Kekanaje Balkrishna Bhat and others