The Madras High Court has ordered United India Insurance Company Limited to pay ₹5 lakh to the family of a man who was gored to death by a bull during a Jallikattu event in Karur district, rejecting the company’s technical objections to the claim.
The case stemmed from a 2025 Jallikattu event in Ratchandar Thirumalai village where the retired teacher was killed after a participating bull attacked him. The event was covered by an insurance policy that promised ₹5 lakh in case of death or 100 per cent permanent disability. However, the insurer had withheld payment, citing two technical issues in the police report — that the victim was standing near a bull collection point rather than spectator areas, and that the FIR did not specify the owner of the bull.
Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that the FIR did not indicate the deceased had strayed into a prohibited area and that the absence of the bull owner’s name was a hyper‑technical objection that could not justify denial of the claim. The judge emphasised that the insurance policy was obtained precisely to cover such unfortunate events at public gatherings, and directed the company to disburse the sum assured to the petitioner.
The court’s decision reinforces the principle that event insurance must provide promised financial support to victims’ families and cannot be frustrated by narrow interpretations of technicalities that do not go to the substance of the claim.
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