nA lorry, which was being loaded with sand from the riverbank, damaged a boat moored there. The owner of the boat demanded compensation but the insurance company refused to pay. It contended that according to the policy, the company would have to pay only if the lorry caused damage to another’s property in a public place. The riverbank could not be called a “public place” because there was no metalled road leading down to it. Kerala High Court, however, interpreted “public place” to mean a place to which the public has access. The riverbank was easily accessible to the public, that made it a public place, irrespective of the fact that there was just a kaccha road leading down to it, the court said. It ruled that the insurance company must pay the boat-owner (District Insurance Collector Kozhikode vs M.K. Moosakutty and another).

nA man, who was travelling in a bus which was being chased by the police, was killed in the ensuing firing. Orissa High Court directed the state to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to his widow and children. The state challenged the order, contending that such compensation cannot be granted in a writ petition. Rejecting the state’s contention, the high court ruled that since the man’s death was caused by the irresponsible act of the police, who are state servants, the state was responsible for his death. It is, therefore, bound to pay compensation, the court ruled (Kalpana Mandal and others vs State of Orissa and others).

nA man refused to pay his wife maintenance because he believed that his marriage should never have taken place. The woman was only 15 years old when they got married and her husband said that if the state had prevented the marriage according to the Child Marriage Restraint Act, he need not have paid maintenance. Chattisgarh High Court ruled that the man could not wiggle out of paying maintenance merely because his marriage was in violation of the Act. The court could not entertain such a plea because the man could not prove that he, or anyone else, had lodged a complaint about his marriage being illegal. The state can take steps to annul a child marriage only after it receives a complaint (Roop Narayan Verma vs Union of India and others).

SOLON