FAO No.1099 of 1997 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.1099 of 1997 Date of Decision. 20.07.2010 The New India Assurance Company Ltd., SCO 36-37, Sector 17-A, Chandigarh through its Regional Manager .........Appellant Versus Gurbachan Kaur wife of S. Gurcharan Singh son of Arjan Singh and others .......Respondents Present: Mr. Deepak Suri, Advocate and Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate for the appellant. None for the respondents. 2. FAO No.1869 of 1997 Gurbachan Kaur wife of S. Gurcharan Singh and another .........Appellants Versus Bikramjit Singh son of S. Nihal Singh and others .......Respondents Present: None for the appellants. Mr. Deepak Suri, Advocate and Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate for respondent No.2. CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? -.- K. KANNAN J. (ORAL) 1. Both the appeals are taken up together and disposed of as arising out of the same cause of action. The insurance company is in FAO No.1099 of 1997 -2- appeal challenging the award passed by the Tribunal on the ground that the insurance policy was taken to commence only from 10 PM on 12.01.1994 but the accident had taken place at 11 AM on the same day. The Tribunal took the policy to commence from the mid-night of the previous date and assumed the insurance cover to be available in such a case. 2. This issue has been considered and answered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Company Limited Vs. Smt. Sobina Iaqai and others 2007(7) SCC 786 that states that the policy must be taken to commence only from the time when it was issued and the risk was undertaken. The liability cast on the insurance company was, therefore, untenable. 3. The award of the Tribunal casting the liability on the insurer is set aside and the appeal is allowed. If the amount had already been recovered by claimants from the insurance company, the right to obtain refund will be available only against the insured and will not be enforced against the claimants. 4. The connected appeal in FAO No.1869 of 1997 is at the instance of the claimants to seek for enhancement of the compensation. The deceased was a bachelor, who was driver and the claimants gave evidence that he was drawing Rs.1,000/- as a driver and he was earning some money as milk vendor. The Tribunal took the income to be Rs.1500/- per month and took the contribution to the family as Rs.1,000/- and adopted a multiplier of 8, having regard to the fact that the deceased was a bachelor and the claimants were parents, who were 55 and 50 years of age FAO No.1099 of 1997 -3- respectively. On the prospect of marriage, contribution to the family would have been also reduced and the Tribunal, therefore, adopted a multiplier of 8 and provided for additional sum for funeral expenses and conventional heads to round off the amount for Rs.1,00,000/-. In my view, the compensation awarded is just and adequate and the claim to the extent that it is not realized, shall be recovered by the claimants only against the owner of the vehicle and not against the insurer in view of the decision taken by me in FAO No.1099 of 1997. 5. The appeal for enhancement is disposed of on the above terms. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE July 20, 2010 Pankaj*