#Insurance Policy Breach

The Karnataka High Court ruled that a person who unloaded goods from a truck and was subsequently killed in an accident is not automatically a gratuitous passenger under the Motor Vehicles Act. Since the deceased was engaged in the carrier’s business and had not yet ceased to be functionally connected to the transport operation, the insurer remains liable under Section 166, reinforcing that liability turns on functional role, not mere passenger classification.

Punjab & Haryana HC upholds insurer's right to recover compensation paid to third-party victims where the insured breached policy terms by attaching two overloaded trolleys to an agricultural tractor. The ruling reinforces that policy violations nullify insurer liability, shifting financial burden back to the insured.