FAO No. 3465 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH FAO No. 3465 of 2009 Date of decision January 31 , 2011 Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. ....... Appellant Versus Amrik Masih and others ........Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN Present:- Mr. Ashwani Talwar, Advocate for the appellant. Ms. Harpreet Kaur, Advocate for respondent No.6. **** 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ?No 2. To be referred to the reporters or not? Yes 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest?Yes K. Kannan, J (oral). 1. The Insurance Company is in appeal challenging the liability cast on it on the ground that the driver had not shown to have had a valid driving license. The accident had taken place on 23.5.2005 and it is claimed by the insurer that the driver did not have a driving license, the driver relied on his own complaint lodged with the police which was entered in the DDR on 15.6.2005 that he had lost the license. A plea of loss of license cannot be assumed by a Tribunal as resulting that the driver had a valid driving license. The driver was bound under such a circumstance to provide such details to the insurer to enable the insurer to summon the records to make verification of the same. A mere complaint, FAO No. 3465 of 2009 2 post accident that he had lost the license could only be seen to be a lame excuse for non-production. I will hold that the owner had committed a breach of terms of the policy in a case where he did not let in any evidence that he had seen the license when the driver was pleading for loss of license through a complaint lodged subsequent to the accident. The award of the Tribunal shall stand modified and the liability of the insurer shall only be to satisfy the claim of the claimants and recover the same against the owner insured. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE January 31, 2011 archana