IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.2855 of 2003 Date of decision: 21.07.2010 The New India Assurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Krishan Kumar and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: Mr.Ravinder Arora, Advocate, for Mr. Suman Jain, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. Jagdish Manchanda, Advocate, for the respondents. ---- 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. The Insurance Company was denying the liability on the ground that the driver did not have a valid driving licence. It is seen from the proceedings of the Court which are extracted even in the grounds of appeal that the Insurance Company took steps to summon the officer from the licensing authority but none had appeared. If no one appeared from the licensing authority to support the report given that the driver did not have a valid driving licence, the Insurance Company must have persisted to secure the attendance of the witness. There cannot be a presumption of a fake licence with merely a report from the authority with no evidence to support the same. The approach of the Tribunal in casting the liability cannot therefore be faulted. FAO No.2855 of 2003 - 2 - 2. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent points out with reference to the very same award that there had been a claim for enhancement by the respondents in another appeal and the amount was even enhanced by the award of the Lok Adalat. The Insurance Company cannot therefore challenge the very same award in this appeal. This objection is also well founded. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 21.07.2010 sanjeev