LexLIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA versus JAYA CHANDEL
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~ [2008] 2 S.C.R. 559 ---'- LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA A v. JAYA CHANDEL (Civil Appeal No. 1089 of 2008) FEBRUARY 7, 2008 B [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND P. SATHASIVAM, JJ.] ;. Insurance Act, 1938 - Revival of discontinued Policies - Claim of - Cheque for annual premium of lapsed LIC Policy along with late fee issued before the death of insured but d received by L/C Corporation after death of insured -Held: Discontinued policy could be revived only after Policy was approved by Corporation and it was communicated to the insured - On 'tacts, cheque was received after the death of insured - Payment was made much beyond the grace period D -A/sos. 64 VB was not applicable - Thus, Order by the forums below that claim could not have been repudiated set aside. K obtained a LIC policy on 28.3.1994 and failed to pay annual premium on or before 28.3.1995. In terms of the policy, the same became inoperative after one month. E . One P issued cheque for annual premium with late fee on 27.6.1995. The insured died on 1.7.1995 and the cheque was received on 12.7.1995. The appellant-Life Insurance . Corporation of India repudiated the claim. The widow of the deceased filed a claim petition. The District Forum, F '· the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and "' the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held that the claim could not have been repudiated. Hence the present appeal. Allowing the appeal, the Court G )' HELD: 1.1 In terms of the conditions of the Life Insurance policy the grace period is one month and therefore the State Commission was not justified in 559 H A I 560 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 2 S.C.R A holding that the payment was made within the grace ,,.._ period. Condition 3 relates to revival of discontinued policy. A bare reading of the condition shows that it can be revived during the life time of the assured. In the instant case, the cheque was admittedly received after the de~th B of the assured. Further the revival takes· effect only after the same is approved by the Corporation and is specifically communicated to the life inSL!red. In the instant case, this was not the situation. [Para 6] [563-E, F] A c 1.2 Section 43 of the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 enumerates the various Sections of Insurance Act which have application to the Act and section 54.:.ve of the Insurance Act, 1938 is not one of them. That being so also the National Commission was not justified in its conclusion about the applicability of that provision. D [Para 7] [564-G; 565-A] 1.3 The orders passed by the District Forum, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission E cannot be maintained and are set aside. [Para 8] [565-A, ·B] - CRIMINALAPPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 1089 of 2008. From the final Order dated 17.1.2005 of the National F Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi in R.P. No. 2068 of 2001. ,/ ~ P.S. Patwalia, Indra Sawhney for the Appellant. Pragati Neekhra, Suryanarayana Singh and Dharmendra Kumar Sinha for the Respondent. G The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Dr: ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1 ~ Leave granted. < 2. Challenge in this appeal is to the order passed by the / H National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (in short ~ LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA v. JAYA 561 CHANDEL [PASAYAT, J.] ~"· the "National Commission") dismissing the Revision Petition A filed by the appellant. Challenge before the Commission was to the order passed in appeal by the Himachal Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Shimla (in short the 'State Commission') which in turn had upheld the order passed by the District Forum, Shimla (in short the 'District B Forum'). J Background facts in a nutshell are as follows: One Karan Singh Chandel (hereinafter referred to as the 'deceased') had taken a Life Insurance Policy and was insured c for a sum of Rs.1,50,000/-. The annual premium payable was Rs.12,821/-. The policy was taken on 28.3.1994. The annual . premium which was to be paid on or before 28.3.1995 was not paid. In terms of the policy, the same became inoperative after : one month. The insured died on 1. 7 .1995. A cheque drawn on Jogindra Cooperative Bank Ltd. for an amount of Rs.12,821 /- D purportedly on account of premium along with late fee of Rs.189/ ... - was issued by one Prakash Chand Thakur on 27
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