- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) All these appeals arise out of the judgment of the Patna High Court in Civil Review Applications Nos. 4 to 10 of 1997 filed by the appellant. The appellant wanted the High Court to review its judgment passed in the appeals filed by it against the common judgment and separate awards given by the Additional Claims Tribunal, Hazaribagh (hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal) in the Motor Accident Claims cases filed by the claimants-respondents.
(3.) On 12-10-73, a passenger bus of the appellant met with an accident because of rash and negligent driving by its driver. 35 passengers travelling in that bus died. In all nine claim cases were filed before the Tribunal. Two cases were dismissed and in the remaining seven cases the Tribunal awarded different sums of money by way of compensation and ordered that in each case out of the total amount payable to the claimants Rs. 5,000/- shall be paid by the insurance company and the rest shall be paid by the appellant. 3-A. The appellant feeling aggrieved by the amount of compensation and the finding that the insurance company was liable to pay only Rs. 5,000/- per passenger and Rs. 75,000/- in all preferred appeals before the High Court. Two contentions were raised before the High Court. It was contended that the insurance policy was a comprehensive policy and, therefore, the insurance company was legally liable to pay the whole amount of compensation and limiting its liability to Rs. 5,000/- per passenger and Rs. 75,000/- in all was contrary to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. The second contention was that the appellant had paid additional premium of Rs. 300/- and, therefore, limiting liability of the insurance company to Rs. 75,000/- in all was not justified. The High Court rejected both these contentions. Relying upon the decision of this Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Jugal Kishore, (1988) 1 SCC 626 : (AIR 1988 SC 719), the High Court held that even where the owner of a vehicle gets it comprehensively insured such insurance entitles the owner to claim reimbursement of the entire amount of loss or damage suffered up to the estimated value of the vehicle calculated according to the rules and regulations framed in this behalf. Comprehensive insurance of the vehicle and payment of higher premium on this score, however, do not mean that the limit of the liability with regard to third party risk or risk of any other nature becomes unlimited or higher than the statutory liability fixed under sub-section (2) of Section 95 of the Act. It also held that the additional premium of Rs. 300/- was paid as it was a passenger bus having capacity of carrying 50 passengers. It held that there was no special contract between the appellant-company and the insurance company to cover unlimited liability in respect of the passengers. In support of this view it also relied upon the decision of this Court in New India Assurance Company Limited v. Shanti Bai, (1995) 2 SCC 539 : (1995 AIR SCW 1142). Taking this view the High Court dismissed all the appeals.;