F.A.O.NO. 476 OF 1993 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 476 OF 1993 Date of decision:7th February, 2011 United India Insurance Company Ltd., .......Appellant Versus Jit Singh and others ........Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. Ravinder Arora, Advocate, for the Insurance Company. None for respondent Nos. 1 to 8 and 10. Mr. Amrinder, Advocate for Mr. P.S.Dhaliwal, Advocate, for respondent No. 9. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not?No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?No K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. The appeal is by the Insurance Company against an award on the issue of liability on the ground that the driver did not have a valid driving licence. The Tribunal rejected the contention and had passed an award of Rs. 50,000/- for death resulting from the accident. 2. It appears that the driving licence produced by the driver was sent for verification with the Licencing Authority Nanded and the report of the Licencing Authority had been secured subsequent to the judgment and consequently, submission has been filed in the Court in Civil Misc. No. 6763-CII of 1993 for reception of the report as F.A.O.NO. 476 OF 1993 2 additional evidence. 3. I can not accept this document in evidence as established without appropriate oral evidence to support the claim. 4. The Insurance Company shall become liable for the entire amount as determined and the issue whether the insurer will be entitled to obtain a refund of the amount from the owner and driver of the vehicle will depend on the validity or otherwise of the driving licence. 5. The award as regards the quantum is confirmed, since the insurer can not urge in appeal the issue of quantum. The interim direction permitting only 50% of the amount to be withdrawn shall stand modified to allow the claimants to withdraw the entire amount and enforce the entire amount against the insurer. The matter is remitted to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Barnala for an adjudication regarding the validity of the driving licence only. It is essentially a matter of inter se dispute between the insurer and the insured and the driver and it shall not be even necessary for the claimants to join issue with the same. The appeal is remanded for disposal according to law. For appearance of parties before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Barnala on 19.03.2011. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 7th February, 2011 Shivani Kaushik