Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. v. National Insurance Co. Ltd. 2025 INSC 1315 - Insurance - Boilers
Consumer Protection Act 1986 - Insurance Law - Indian Boilers Act 1923 - Once a certificate of registration for use of boiler is issued, during currency of that certificate, the boiler concerned would be considered, prima facie, fit for usage. In such circumstances, to substantiate that the insured suppressed information of boiler being unworthy of use, burden would be very heavy on the insurer, particularly, when the accident occurs during currency of its registration - Despite a certificate of registration, an insurer may refuse insurance based on its own inputs about the condition of the boiler. This is because whether an insurer should take the risk or not is best left to its wisdom. However, when an insurer accepts the risk, it can repudiate the claim on limited grounds such as, (a) by pleading and proving that there was a failure on part of the insured in making disclosure of a material fact which renders the contract voidable at the instance of the insurer; and (b) by demonstrating that the terms and conditions of the contract of insurance exclude such claims. (Para 32-33) A subsequent discovery of damage or corrosion cannot be used to repudiate the claim as it would defeat the main purpose of the insurance contract. (Para 39)
Case Info
- Case name: Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. (now Karmaveer Shankarrao Kale Sahakari Shakhar Karkhana Ltd.) v. National Insurance Co. Ltd. & Anr.
- Neutral citation: 2025 INSC 1315.
- Coram: Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha; Justice Manoj Misra.
- Judgment date: November 13, 2025.
Caselaws and citations
- Canara Bank v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., (2020) 3 SCC 455.
- Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Suresh Chand Jain, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 877 = (2024) 9 SCC 148.
- Sikka Papers Ltd. v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., (2009) 7 SCC 777.
- Sri Venkateswara Syndicate v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., (2009) 8 SCC 507.
- Skandia Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Kokilaben Chandravadan, (1987) 2 SCC 654.
- B.V. Nagaraju v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., (1996) 4 SCC 647; followed in Mata Ram v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., (2018) 18 SCC 289.
Statutes/laws referred
- Indian Boilers Act, 1923: Sections 6 (use only after registration), 7 (registration and examination), 8(renewal), 19 (appeal), 21 (finality).
- Consumer Protection Act, 1986: Section 24A (limitation).
- Indian Contract Act, 1872: Sections 17 (fraud), 19 and its Exception (voidability; means of discovering truth).
- Constitutional provisions: Articles 136, 226, 227 (jurisdiction and alternative remedies).
