Supreme Court of India in a recent Judgment titled Taj Mahal Hotel Vs United
India Insurance Company Ltd. & Others , delivered on November 14, 2019
comprising Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar & Justice Ajay Rastogi, held that in
a case of theft of a Vehicle given for Valet Parking, the Hotel cannot claim
exemption from liability by arguing it was due to acts of third parties
beyond their control, or that they are protected by an Owner's Risk clause, prior to fulfilling its burden as required under Sections 151 and 152 of
the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
 By now it is well established, that while a case of robbery by force is
visibly beyond a bailee's control, in cases of private stealth, or simple
theft where no force or violence is involved, the bailee still has the prima
facie burden of explaining that the loss or disappearance of the goods in
his custody is not attributable to his neglect or want of care , held the Bench.
This is because no one apart from the bailee is in a position to explain the
fate of the goods.
Supreme Court stated that, in short, the Hotel - Owner cannot contract out of
liability for its negligence or that of its servants in respect of a Vehicle of
its guest in any circumstance. Once the possession of the Vehicle is handed to
the Hotel Staff or Valet, there is an implied contractual obligation to
return the Vehicle in a safe condition upon the direction of the Owner.
Even where there is a general or specific exemption clause, there remains a
prima facie burden of proof on the Hotel to explain that any loss or damage
caused to the Vehicles parked was not on account of its negligence or want of
care per Sections 151 & 152 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 which
applies the reasonable care and prudent man’s test to a condition
where goods are bailed. It is only after this burden of proof is discharged that
the exemption clause can come into force. The burden of proving that such loss
or damage was covered by the exemption clause will also be on the Hotels.
The Civil Appeal No. 8611 of 2019 (arising out of SLP (Civil) No. 11213 of 2018
arose from the Judgment passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission on February 05, 2018, dismissing the appeal against the
Order/Judgment dated January 29, 2016, passed by the State Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, New Delhi, in a consumer complaint case.
Facts of the case
Culling out the facts, on the night of August 01, 1998, at around 11 PM, the
second complainant visited the Appellant - Hotel in his Maruti Zen car. While
the car was insured with the Respondent - Complainant No. 1, the Appellant -
Hotel had taken a non-industrial risk insurance/liability policy from the
Respondent No. 3.
Upon reaching the Hotel, the Respondent No. 2 (Car Owner Insured) handed over
his car and its keys to the Hotel Valet for parking, and then went inside the
Hotel. The Parking tag handed over to him read inter alia as under:
Important Condition:
This Vehicle is being parked at the request of the guest at his own 'risk and
responsibility' in or outside the hotel premises. In the event of any loss,
theft or damage, the management shall not be held responsible for the same and
the guest shall have no claim whatsoever against the management.â€
When the Respondent No. 2 (Car Owner Insured) came out of the Hotel at about 1
am, he was informed that his vehicle had been driven away by another person.
Upon enquiry with the security officer, he found that three young boys had come
to the Hotel in their separate car, parked it and gone inside the Hotel.
After some time, they came out and asked the Valet to bring their car to the
porch. During this process, one of the boys, one Deepak, picked up the keys of
the car of Respondent No. 2 (Car Owner Insured) from the desk, went to the car
parking, and stole the Maruti Zen car. Though the security guard tried to stop
him, he sped away. A complaint was lodged with the police, but the car remained
untraced.
The Respondent - (Car Insurer) settled the claim raised by the Car Owner -
Insured in respect of the stolen car for Rs. 2, 80, 000/-.Thereafter, the Car
Owner - Insured executed a Power of Attorney and a Letter of Subrogation in
favour of the Car Insurer. They both then approached the State Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, New Delhi, by filing a Consumer Complaint against the
Appellant - Hotel seeking payment of the value of the car and compensation for
deficiency in service.
The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi, relied upon the
Supreme Court's decision in the case titled Oberoi Forwarding Agency Vs. New
India Assurance Company Ltd. , (2000) 1 SCR 554 and dismissed the consumer
complaint on the ground that an Insurance Company acting as a subrogee
(subrogate) cannot qualify as a ‘Consumer'. Hence, the Car Insurer filed
Consumer Appeal before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
As Oberoi decision was overruled by a subsequent decision of a Constitution
Bench of the Apex Court in the case titled Economic Transport Organization Vs. Charan Spinning Mills (Pvt.) Ltd. , (2010) 4 SCC 114, the National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission, on September 20, 2010, remanded the case in
Consumer Appeal to the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi,
observing that the Car Insurer had locus standi in the case.
The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi, relied upon two
decisions of the National Commission in the cases titled Bombay Brazzerie
Vs. Mulchand Agarwal, (2002) NCDRC 42 and B. Dutta, Senior Advocate Vs
Management of State, (2010) 1 CPC 319 and held that laws of bailment
apply when a customer pays to park his car in a parking lot and it is then
stolen or damaged.
It was noted that the price paid for food consumed in the hotel would include
consideration for a contract of bailment from the consumer to the hotel. Hence,
the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi, proceeded on the
assumption that the Respondent - Car Owner had paid consideration for the
contract.
In light of this, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission,
New Delhi, allowed the Consumer Complaint and directed the Appellant - Hotel to
pay Respondent No. 2 (Car Owner - Insured) a sum of Rs. 2, 80, 000/- (the value
of the car) with interest at 12% per annum and Rs. 50, 000/- as litigation
costs.
In addition to this, it directed payment of Rs. 1, 00, 000/- to
Respondent No. 2 (Car Owner - Insured) for inconvenience and harassment faced by
him. The State Commission also held that Respondent No. 3 (Insurer of the Hotel)
would not be liable to indemnify the loss caused to the Appellant - Hotel, as
the theft of the car had not been notified to it within due time.
Consumer Appeal filed against Order/Judgment filed by the Appellant was disposed
of Vide the impugned Judgment. On the question of locus standi of Respondent No.
1 (subrogee) to file the Consumer Complaint, the National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission observed that its earlier Order dated 20.09.2010 (supra)
had not been challenged and had consequently attained finality. Hence, it was
held that the Appellant could not argue that Respondent No. 1 (Car Insurer) did
not have locus standi.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission further applied the
principle of infra hospitium (Latin for ‘within the hotel’) and observed that
common law has historically imposed strict liability on a hotel for the loss of
a guest’s property if the guest and the property were within the hotel premises.
It was noted that once the guest presents the car keys to the valet and
possession of the car is transferred from the guest to the hotel, a relationship
of bailment is established. Relying on various decisions by foreign Courts on
strict liability for property kept infra hospitium, the National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission held that the liability of a hotel cannot be
precluded by a printed notice on the parking tag disclaiming liability.
Consequently, the appeal against the order of the State Commission was
dismissed, although the interest awarded was modified from 12% per annum to 9%
per annum. Hence, the present appeal.
Key Issues
Since the compensation awarded by the State Commission (including interest) had
already been paid by the Appellant to Respondent Nos. 1 & 2, thus, the Supreme
Court confined itself to the followings substantial questions of law:
The Supreme Court held that:
Conclusion
The words of the Supreme Court at Paragraph 20.2 in the Judgment provide some,
but not all, indicia of what is required for a Hotel to discharge its duty of
care in relation to vehicles which are valet parked by the Hotel:
 This would mean that it is not sufficient for the hotel to merely appoint an
attendant or security guard who takes the responsibility of parking the vehicle
and keeping the car keys in his custody until the vehicle owner is inside the
hotel premises.
The hotel must take additional steps to guard against situations which may
result in wrongful loss or damage to the car. This includes, for example,
ensuring that the car keys are kept out of reach of outsiders, that the valet
parks the car in a safe location, that parking spaces which are in the vicinity
of the hotel are well-guarded that parking spaces inside the hotel (if any) are
reasonably well-maintained and CCTV cameras are installed there for detecting
any suspicious activity, that the car is handed over only to those who present
the parking slip and so on. Needless to say this is only an illustrative, and
not an exhaustive list.
Hotel owners and operators should carefully re-evaluate whether the systems,
processes and procedures which they have in place are adequate in order to
discharge the Hotel's duty of care when the Hotel accepts cars for Valet
parking.
Written By: Dinesh Singh Chauhan, Advocate, J&K High Court of Judicature,
Jammu.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
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