New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- Some judgments matter because of the dispute they settle. Others become significant because an individual case exposes a problem affecting millions. The Supreme Court's recent motor-insurance judgment belongs to the latter category.

The story began on a road near Singarayakonda in 1996, when a Maruti 800 was rear-ended by an unidentified lorry that could never be traced. Its owner, T. Ramu, sustained injuries and later died. Since the lorry driver could not be identified, his family sought compensation not from a third party, but under Ramu's own comprehensive insurance policy on his car.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal dismissed the claim, holding that the owner could not be a third party to his own policy and ...