F.A.O.NO. 224 OF 1997 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 224 OF 1997 Date of decision: 20th July, 2010 United India Insurance Company Ltd. .......Appellant Versus Kamla Devi and others ........Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. Vinod Gupta, Advocate, for the appellant. None for the respondents. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes/No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not?Yes/No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Yes/No K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. The Insurance Company is claiming in the appeal is that the driver did not have a valid driving licence at the relevant time. The licence contained entry for issue and validity from 17.07.1990 upto 6.07.1993. The accident had taken place on 28.09.1994. The Insurer had produced the original register and examined a clerk from the Licencing Authority to prove that no renewal was made subsequent to 6.07.1993. The owner merely gave evidence to the fact that there was renewal which was effective upto 5.10.1996. Even that renewal was in respect of light motor vehicle. He did not have the requisite licence for heavy motor vehicle. The accident has been shown to have been F.A.O.NO. 224 OF 1997 2 caused only by the negligence of the driver and therefore, the validity of the licence was definitely relevant and an admissible defence under Section 149(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act. 2. The award of the Tribunal is therefore, modified to make the insurer liable only to the claimants with the right of recovery to the insurer against the insured. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 20th July, 2010 Shivani Kaushik