Supreme Court summons Tamil Nadu DGP over claim that police do not verify insurance documents

The Supreme Court on March 25 summoned the Director General of Police (DGP) of Tamil Nadu over statements in his affidavit indicating that police do not verify insurance documents in motor accident cases [National Insurance Company vs. K Saravanan]..A Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan took strong exception to the affidavit filed pursuant to its earlier directions, and directed the DGP to appear before the Court personally on April 2. "In the tentative view of the Court, if that is the understating of how investigation should be done by the Head of the Police Department i.e., the Director General of Police, it speaks volumes," the Court observed. .The Court was examining allegations that a forged insurance policy had been relied upon in a motor accident compensation claim.The claimant K Saravanan, a road accident victim, had undergone surgeries and prolonged treatment and later resigned from his job due to the injuries. He filed a claim petition before Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) seeking compensation from the owner of the bus and its insurer, National Insurance Company Limited.Before the MACT, the insurer disputed the claim in entirety. It denied the nature of injuries, disability and expenses, questioned the quantum of compensation and contended that the insurance policy relied upon was not valid. It also raised the defence of negligence on the part of the claimant and breach of policy conditions.The MACT held that the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the bus, rejected the insurer’s defences, and fastened liability on National Insurance Company Limited.In appeal, the Madras High Court affirmed the findings on negligence and liability, rejected the insurer’s challenge to the policy, and modified the compensation awarded.The case thus reached Supreme Court.On February 9, the Supreme Court impleaded the State of Tamil Nadu through the DGP as a party to the case and directed it to file a detailed affidavit explaining whether the alleged fabrication of the policy had been investigated..In his affidavit, the DGP stated that in motor accident cases, police collect insurance particulars from the parties during investigation and furnish them to claimants, but do not verify their authenticity with the insurer.“The police authorities… do not verify or cross check the same with the insurance company,” the affidavit said.The affidavit added that this was the established practice during the relevant period (2004), when documents gathered during investigation—such as driving licence, vehicle registration and insurance particulars—were shared with victims to facilitate compensation claims before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT).It further stated that in the present case, the investigating officer had furnished insurance particulars showing the offending vehicle to be insured with National Insurance Company Limited under a policy valid from September 26, 2003 to September 25, 2004..The affidavit stated that no complaint had been lodged by the insurance company alleging fabrication or forgery of the policy.It was further stated that had such a complaint been made, it would have been enquired into and appropriate legal action taken..The Bench indicated that the affidavit reflected a problematic understanding of investigation at the highest level of the police hierarchy.It also observed that the DGP has not been properly briefed by his subordinates while preparing the affidavit, the Court saidThus, the Court directed the DGP to remain present before it on April 2, when the matter will be taken up as the first item..National Insurance Company Limited was represented by advocates Manu Luv Shahalia, Manjeet Chawla, Usha Pant Kukreti and Jyoti..The State of Tamil Nadu was represented by Senior Advocate Vipin Sanghi with advocates Sabarish Subramanian, Veshal Tyagi, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Jahnavi Taneja, Arpitha Anna Mathew and KS Badhrinathan..Claimant Saravanan was represented by advocate Goutham Shivshankar.Vel Tech Engineering was represented by advocates G Balaji, Arzu Paul, Shiv Kumar and Vaishnavi..[Read Order]