F.A.O.NO. 497 OF 1995 and F.A.O.NO. 498 OF 1995 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 497 OF 1995 Date of decision:28th September, 2010 The New India Ass.Co.Ltd., Hoshiarpur through its duly constituted Attorney Shri D.K.Dogram Legal Officer, Sector 17, Chandigarh. .......Appellant Versus Smt. Pushpa Devi and others ........Respondents F.A.O.NO. 498 OF 1995 The New India Ass.Co.Ltd.Hoshiarpur, through its duly Constituted Attorney Shri D-K.Dogra, Legal Officer, Sector 17, Chandigarh. .......Appellant Versus Shri Balbir Singh and others .......Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. Inderjeet Sharma, Advocate, for the Insurance Company. 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. Both the appeals address the same issue of the fact that the owner came before the Court to give evidence that he had verified the licence personally and believed bonafide that the licence was true, although it was proved by the insurer at the trial that the F.A.O.NO. 497 OF 1995 and F.A.O.NO. 498 OF 1995 2 licence was fake. This has been answered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court itself in National Insurance Co. v Swaran Singh (2004) 3 SCC 297 where it was held that the insurer will be bound not merely to satisfy the claimant but also provide to the insured the right of indemnity. The principle is that the defence of the insurer shall be to plead for exclusion in a case where the insured had been shown to be guilty of breach of the terms of the policy. In a case where he had not himself participated in the fraud for securing a fake licence, his own belief that it was genuine is good enough to protect him. 2. The awards of the Tribunal under circumstances are justified and the appeals are dismissed. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 28th September, 2010 Shivani Kaushik