Top Stories
MERE DELAY IN INFORMING ABOUT VEHICLE THEFT CANNOT RENDER INSURANCE CLAIM REJECTED : SC
PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES MADE PUBLIC : SC
20
Top Stories
MERE DELAY IN INFORMING ABOUT VEHICLE THEFT CANNOT RENDER INSURANCE CLAIM REJECTED : SC
Thursday , September 07 , 2017
The condition regarding the delay shall not be a shelter to repudiate the insurance claims which have been otherwise proved to be genuine , the bench observed .
In Om Prakash vs . Reliance General Insurance , the Supreme Court has observed that though the owner has to inform the insurer immediately after the theft of the vehicle , this condition should not bar settlement of genuine claims , particularly when the delay in intimation or submission of documents is due to unavoidable circumstances .
The decision of the insurer to reject the claim has to be based on valid grounds and rejection of the claims on purely technical grounds in a mechanical manner will result in loss of confidence of policy-holders in the insurance industry , observed a bench comprising Justice R
K Agrawal and Justice S Abdul Nazeer .
On grounds that there has been a hold up of eight days in informing the insurer about the theft occurred , the claim was rejected .
If the reason for delay in making a claim is convincingly explained , it cannot be rejected on the basis of delay . It is also necessary to state here that it would not be fair and reasonable to reject genuine claims which had already been verified and found to be correct by the investigator , the bench said .
The court also argued that the Consumer Protection Act focuses at providing better protection of the interest of consumers and it is a beneficial legislation that deserves liberal construction .
This commendable object should not be forgotten while considering the claims made under the Act , the bench said while setting aside the National Commission order .
PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES MADE PUBLIC : SC
Saturday , October 07 , 2017
For the first time in history , the seniormost Supreme Court judges will appoint or transfer judges , with their reasons openly in public . The Supreme Court collegium system is a panel of the country ’ s top five judges including the Chief Justice of India . The panel has decided that its discussions and recommendations for the first time will be put up on the Supreme Court ’ s website .
The collegium system of judges appointing judges has been condemned over the years by the government with the system checking the transparency and the accountability of such judicial appointments . However , many reforms too have been suggested as the eminent jurists believed that collegium lacks transparency .
National Judicial Appointments Commission ( NJAC ), which would comprise of the Law Minister and two eminent persons chosen by a separate panel including the Chief Justice , the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition were introduced by the Parliament in 2015 .
But NJAC was annuled by the Supreme Court , which felt the government too would have a say in deciding judges and the independence of the judiciary , would be dissolved .
The Supreme Court ’ s collegium system has been in controversy over a judge resigning after being passed over for elevation recently ; the decision of the panel to go public can remove the differences in the system . In the Justice Jayant Patel example , who ordered a CBI investigation into the 2004 Ishrat Jehan encounter killing in Gujarat , was not promoted to Karnataka Chief Justice despite being seniormost in the state . Moreover , he was transferred to the Allahabad High Court , where he dropped to third in seniority .
November 2017 | Legal Era | www . legaleraonline . com