FAO No. 1214 of 2010 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No. 1214 of 2010 (O&M) Date of decision : 18.3.2010 ... The New India Assurance Company Limited ................Appellant vs. Malkiat Kaur and others .................Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice K.C. Puri Present: Sh. V. Ramswaroop, Advocate for the appellant ... K.C. Puri, J. (Oral) This is an appeal directed by New India Assurance Company Limited against award dated 11.11.2009, vide which the claim petition was accepted and an amount of Rs.11,52,000/- was granted to the claimants alongwith interest @ 8% per annum. Learned counsel for the appellant has challenged the judgment on two grounds, firstly that whole of the income of the deceased Jaswinder Singh has been taken and income tax deduction has not been made from the total gross income. I have carefully considered the said submission but do not find any force in that submission. In the authority reported as Smt. Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and FAO No. 1214 of 2010 -2- another 2009(3) RCR (Civil) 77, in case of a Government employee, if the deceased is between 40-50 years, in that case 30% should be added for his future promotion. So, if the future income of the deceased is taken, the above said ground would be without any merit. The other ground taken by counsel for the appellant is that driving licence of respondent No.1 was found to be fake. The Tribunal has committed an error by ordering to make the payment to the claimants and to recover the same from the owner. This aspect of the case is duly covered by authority reported as National Insurance Company Limited vs. Swaran Singh and others 2004 (1) ACJ 1 (S.C.). The Hon'ble Apex Court in the said authority held that Insurance Company is liable to pay the amount to the third party and to recover the same from the owner of the driver even where the Insurance company could establish breach of policy on the part of the owner of the vehicle. It has been further laid down in the said ruling that doctrine of stare decisis persuades the Apex Court not to deviate from it. Learned counsel for the appellant has relied upon the authority reported as National Insurance Co. Limited vs. Parvathneni and another (2009)8 SCC 785 and on the strength of same it is argued that the matter regarding payment of amount by Insurance company and getting the reimbursement from owner and driver, has been referred to the larger Bench. I have carefully gone through the said authority. The dispute in Parvathneni's case (Supra) was that there was no valid insurance coverage on the date of accident, in as much as, the cheque in respect FAO No. 1214 of 2010 -3- of payment of insurance premium was dishonored. So, the above said authority is distinguishable to the facts of the present case. In the present case, there is no dispute regarding the validity of Insurance Policy. So, in view of the above discussion, the appeal is without any merit and the same stands dismissed. ( K.C. Puri ) 18.3.2010 Judge chugh