Kerala High Court Appreciates Car Financier Who Transferred Insurance Money Received Towards Loss Of Vehicle To Accident Victims

The Kerala High Court recently recorded its appreciation for a financier, M/S Sundaram Finance, for transferring the entire amount received by it in insurance against a financed vehicle that was destroyed in a gruesome incident, to the hapless victims- one of them also being a rape survivor.

The Division Bench of Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen commended the financier for rising above their business and commercial interests and for showing how humanity prevailed above all. 

"In a commercialised world, where business interests are often projected, there are silver lines of hope like one now exhibited," the Court observed.

As per the factual matrix, a young POCSO victim who had been staying in the Women and Children home, on attaining majority, filed a petition under Section 40 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 for living with her mother. The mother of the survivor had left her husband/father of the survivor, who was also the perpetrator of the crime.

The High Court had directed the involvement of the Victim Rights Centre (VRC), a service platform under the Kerala Legal Services Authority (KeLSA). One of the members of VRC had also been deputed as a mentor for the survivor who was pursuing her graduation in Physics. Upon the survivor informing her member that she wished to be with her mother and two siblings during college vacations, they informed the High Court Bench of the same, which permitted her to go to her maternal home that was away from where her father was living. The police was also directed to ensure that the perpetrator father did not enter the jurisdiction during the survivor's stay with her mother. 

However, in a gruesome incident perpetrated by the father of the survivor, the latter lost her mother and one sibling after her father set ablaze the vehicle with survivor’s mother and her two younger siblings. In the process, he got himself burnt and succumbed on the spot. One of the siblings of the survivor managed to survive with severe burns. 

The Court had posted the case on regular intervals for updates on the well being of the survivor and her sister. Since the survivor had to change University for the purpose of joining a college near her maternal home, and there occurred a break in her studies, the Court had also suo motu impleaded the Universities concerned and with the help of the NGO, identified a college near her home where she could continue her studies. 

The Court had suo motu impleaded the State Wakf Board as well, and the Board had sanctioned an amount of Rs 1,00,000/- to the survivor girl as an immediate relief.

At this juncture, a major issue cropped up as regards the outstanding loan on the vehicle that got destroyed in the incident wherein the survivor had lost one of her siblings and her parents. The vehicle had been in the name of the survivor’s mother and the father was the guarantor and the mishap took place after the initial payment of two instalments of EMI on the vehicle. The loan amount was insured with M/s. Kotak Insurance.

After several rounds of talk with the Kotak Insurance group, VRC and the financier could get the insurance company to transfer an amount of Rs 3.00 lakhs to the company account of the financier after depreciation and other deductions. 

Thereafter, the financier transferred the entire amount received from Kotak Life Insurance to the joint account in the name of the victim and her minor sibling. 

It is in this context that the Court recorded its appreciation for the financier.

Case Title: XXX v. State of Kerala & Ors.

Click Here To Read/Download The Order