IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.2479 of 2003 (O&M) Date of decision:13.09.2010 National Insurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Kartar Singh and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: Mr. Jagtar Kureel, Advocate, for Mr. D.P.Gupta, Advocate, for the appellant. None 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 is in appeal denying the liability on the ground that on the relevant date of the accident namely on 23.04.1998, there was no valid insurance policy at all. The cover note produced before the Court purported to contain detail of commencement of policy as valid from 18.03.1998 till 17.03.1999. There had been tampering of the date mentioned in the cover note and the policy had actually commenced from 18.03.1996 to 17.03.1997. According to the insurer, the letter '1996' had been changed to 1998 and '1997' had been changed 1999 to make it appear as though that there was a valid policy of insurance on the date of the accident namely on 23.04.1998. This was FAO No.2479 of 2003 (O&M) - 2 - sought to be proved by moving an application for review after the judgment was delivered and the application for review was also dismissed. The dismissal of the application for review has been taken as ground in appeal stating that there was no valid policy and what was omitted to be pointed out as oversight namely of the correction in the cover note was not properly appreciated in the light of the entries in the policy. I am of the view that there is a prima facie case for the insurer to contend that the cover note had been tampered with. The Insurance Company shall have an opportunity to recall the owner/insured and prove the case with reference to the defence taken by the insurer that there was no valid policy at the relevant time of the accident. The award of the Tribunal is, therefore, set aside and the matter is remitted to the Tribunal. The insurer shall be at liberty to recall the owner/insured and bring his own evidence to substantiate his defence. The claimants and the owner/insured shall also be entitled to join issues on the validity of the policy at the relevant time and adduce such evidence as the parties may desire. 2. The award is set aside and the appeal is allowed. 3. Parties shall appear before the Tribunal on 15.11.2010. 4. Registry to dispatch records to the Tribunal for the date fixed. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 13.09.2010 sanjeev