F.A.O.NO. 358 OF 1998 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 358 OF 1998 and Cross Objection No. 21-CII of 1999 Date of decision: 16th July, 2010 New India Assurance Company Ltd. .......Appellant Versus Piar Kaur and others ........Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. Ravinder Arora, Advocate, for the appellant. None for the respondents. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes/No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not?Yes/No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Yes/No K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. There is no representation for the Insurance Company. I have requested the panel lawyer Mr. Ravinder Arora, Advocate, to assist me in the course. 2. In this case, Insurer is in appeal challenging the award on the ground that on the date of the accident the driver did not have a valid driving licence. The accident took place on 8.12.1993 and the licence which had been renewed was, valid only till 27.12.1992. It appears that the driver had obtained the fresh renewal only one year later after the accident took place. In such a situation the Hon'ble Supreme Court held in National F.A.O.NO. 358 OF 1998 2 Insurance Company V. Jarnail Singh and others (2007) 15 SCC 28 that the insurer shall not be liable. Following the decision in New India Assurance Co., Shimla V. Kamla (2001) 4 SCC 342, the Insurance Company shall become liable to pay the amount to the claimants and realise the same from the insured. The appeal is allowed to the above extent only. 3. There is no representation for the respondent but looking at the record I find that income of the deceased at the time of death was taken as Rs. 15,00/- per month. The Tribunal has taken the contribution to the family to be Rs.1,000/- and adopted a multiplier of 16 and also provided for the conventional heads of claim. I find that the award is reasonable and there is no scope for interference. Therefore, the cross objection is dismissed. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 16th July, 2010 Shivani Kaushik