FAO No.3369 of 2011(O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.3369 of 2011(O&M) Date of Decision:09.05.2011 Sunil son of Sh. Mahender Singh r/o village Kiloi, Distt. Rohtak (owner of Truck No.HR-46-C-2977) .......Appellant Versus Rohtash son of Mahavir and others ......Respondents Present: Mr. Navneet Singh, Advocate for the appellant. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? No K. KANNAN J. (ORAL) 1. Delays in refiling and filing the appeals are condoned. 2. The appeal is against the liability cast on the owner in a case where the Tribunal found that on the relevant date of accident, the licence had already expired and it had not been renewed. If the licence had not been renewed, the owner cannot plead that he was under the impression that the driver shall have renewed it or he believed that he still had a valid driving licence. The issue of bona fide does not exist in such a situation at all. The insurance company was also not required to prove anything more than pointing out that the particular driving licence, which had been produced by the driver was not valid at the relevant time and it had already expired. The issue of liability in a case where there was no renewal within time has come through the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme court in National Insurance Company Limited FAO No.3369 of 2011(O&M) -2- Vs. Jarnail Singh (2007) 15 SCC 28 and New India Assurance Company Limited Vs. Suresh Chander Aggarwal (2009) 15 SCC 761 . . The liability cast on the owner, under such circumstances, is perfectly justified and there is no scope for interference. 3. The award is confirmed and the appeal is dismissed. The amount of Rs.25,000/- deposited before this Court at the time of preferring the appeal is ordered to be transmitted to the Tribunal to the credit of the case for part satisfaction of the award. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE May 09, 2011 Pankaj*