IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.4604 of 2003 (O&M) Date of decision:22.09.2010 National Insurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Khiali Ram and others ...Respondents II. FAO No.4605 of 2003 (O&M) National Insurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Smt. Rani Devi and others ...Respondents Present: Mr. Inderjit Sharma, Advocate, and Mr. Pradeep Bedi, 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 challenging liability on the ground that the driver did not have a valid driving licence. A licensing Clerk from Sirsa was examined as RW2, who spoke with reference to the register that serial No.77531, dated 02.06.1995 had been issued on 02.06.1995 and it was valid till 01.06.2000 and it was FAO No.4604 of 2003 (O&M) - 2 - subsequently renewed only on 18.04.2001 upto 17.04.2005. The accident had taken place in the intervening period of 15.03.2001. The licence had not been renewed beyond a period of 30 days and upto to the period of the accident, the licence itself was taken only subsequent to the accident. Evidently the driver was not duly licensed. The insurer cannot be made liable in view of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Company Limited Versus Jarnail Singh- 2007(15) SCC 28. The awards of the Tribunal shall, therefore, be required to be modified to make the insurer liable only to satisfy the claimants and shall have a right of recovery against the owner for breach of terms of the policy. 2. The appeals are allowed on the above terms. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 22 .09.2010 sanjeev