The Supreme Court remarking that Crop Insurance is not akin to a Commercial Policy has asked Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to compensate Farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
The Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat was deciding the petition that concerns compensation of 3,57,287 Farmers in the Osmanabad District of Maharashtra who suffered post harvesting losses on account of heavy rainfall in the Kharif Season 2020 as Soya bean Crop was wasted.
The Court didn't agree to the oblivious submission made on behalf of the Counsel for Insurance Company who argued that there were different policies for National Disaster Relief as opposed to localised incidents and that the company would be "adversely affected" since they were offering compensation even to farmers who had not filed claims within the 72-hour period, according to the policy document.
"This is a human problem and not an ordinary commercial policy. You are treating it as a commercial policy", the Court said.
In the same spirit and logic, the Apex Court also rejected Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's argument that the State was planning to challenge the part of the judgement that made the government responsible for paying insurance payout to the farmers in case the company is not able to do so.
The Court reminded the SG how the issue is intertwined wih the State Policy and the possibility of Climate Change woresening the scenario. The Court opined that the whole issue of Crop Insurance is of different nature subject to the conditions and background of farmers.
"These kinds of incidents are going to increase with climate change. What would happen if you continued to exclude farmers from the policy?...The claimants are poor farmers who may not have the wherewithal to lodge a claim within 72 hours...Crop insurance for farmers is of a very different nature and it affects the very existence of the farmer and his family", the Court said.
The Top Court thus upheld the Bombay High Court order.
*Uploading ot the order is awaited*
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