IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.2445 of 1998 (O&M) Date of decision:04.10.2010 National Insurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Smt. Neelam and others ...Respondents II. FAO No.2119 of (O&M) Smt. Neelam and others ....Appellants versus Rajinder Singh and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN ---- Present: Mr. Ravinder Mohan Suri, Advocate, for the appellant in FAO No.2445 of 1998 and for respondent No.3 in FAO No.2119 of 1998. None for the appellants in FAO No.2119 of 1998. ---- 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 challenging liability on the ground that the driver did not have a valid driving licence. In the course of trial, one Narinder Kumar had been examined as RW1, who was a licensing Clerk of SDM, Karnal. He had to give evidence with reference to a licence bearing No.R-4426, dated 08.06.1965. His FAO No.2445 of 1998 (O&M) - 2 - evidence in chief examination was that no such licence had been issued by their office. If the register had been brought before Court and he gave evidence from such a record, then his evidence would have been acceptable. However, he admitted that he had not brought the records. The evidence in Court must be based on records and cannot be from his memory or knowledge. The Tribunal was justified in finding that the insurer had not proved that the driver did not have a valid driving licence. The award, under this circumstance, therefore, would require to be affirmed and the appeal filed by the insurer is dismissed. 2. The appeal in FAO No.2119 of 1998 is for enhancement. There is no representation for the appellants. It is dismissed ,accordingly, for default of appearance. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 04.10.2010 sanjeev