FAO No.731 of 1993 IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARAYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.731 of 1993 Date of Decision: February 07, 2011 National Insurance Co. Ltd. ….Appellant Versus Shri Om Parkash and others. ….Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN Present: Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate for Mr. Deepak Suri, Advocate None for the respondents. *** K. KANNAN, J.(ORAL) 1. The appeal is on the issue of liability on the ground that the driver is not duly licensed. In a pre-amendment situation of Section 10 where the driver held driving licence to drive a heavy motor vehicle but he was driving a van which was a medium passenger motor vehicle. The reference to a ‘transport vehicle’ came for the first time only in the year 1994 when Section 10 was amended by substitution brought through Act 54 of 1994 effective from 14.11.1994. Driving a lesser category of vehicle than the vehicle for which he was licenced will have a definite bearing in a case where the driving skills are different. The obvious example could be the person who has a driving licence to drive a van or bus may not be competent to drive a motorcycle or scooter which have different driving skills. I will -1- FAO No.731 of 1993 not apply this true to a driver who had a licence to drive a heavy vehicle but drives a passenger carrying van namely Maruti Van 800 CC. I will not take this to be material breach to exclude the liability of the insurance company. Award making the insurer liable shall therefore be retained. The appeal filed by the insurer shall be dismissed. 07.02.2011 (K. KANNAN) vcgarg JUDGE -2-