IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.1679 of 1998 Date of decision:16.08.2010 M/s United India Insurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Suresh Bhatia and others ...Respondents II. FAO No.1257 of 1999 The New India Assurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Zora Singh and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: Mr. Raj Kumar Bashamboo, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. Jagtar Kureel, Advocate, for Mr. D.P.Gupta, Advocate, for respondent No.5 in FAO No.1679 of 1998. None for other 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. Both the cases are taken up together, for, they involve common questions of claims at the instance of the persons, who were major children of the deceased. FAO No.1679 of 1998 - 2 - 2. The Insurance Company is in appeal on the question of quantum. The learned counsel states that the claimants were major sons and they were not dependent on the deceased. In my view, it is irrelevant whether the claimant is a minor or a major and it is not merely the class of dependents who are entitled to claim compensation. Section 165 uses the expression of a 'legal representative' and that expression would include a legal heir as well. It may be that the dependence will have a bearing in ascertaining the compensation but it will be wrong to assume that if a claimant is not dependent on a deceased, the claim cannot be prosecuted at all. A legal heir suffers a loss by the fact that the person to whom he is such a heir dies in an accident. The claim, under the circumstances, perfectly tenable. This is merely an expression on an academic issue, for, I would rest the case on a formal ground that the appeal on quantum is not maintainable at the instance of the insurer, without an express sanction granted under Section 170 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The appeals are, therefore, dismissed and the award of are confirmed. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 16.08.2010 sanjeev