IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.1863 of 2001 (O&M) Date of decision:22.09.2010 National Insurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Smt. Bishan Devi and others ...Respondents Present: Mr. Navin Kapur, 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 the liability on the ground that the driver did not have a valid driving licence. The licence produced by the driver made reference to licence No.H/692/88, Agra. The Licensing Authority from RTO, Agra had been examined on the side of the insurer, who gave evidence to the effect that the licence had not been issued in the name of the driver. The licence was also said to contain a purported renewal by RTO, Ferozabad. An official from Ferozabad had also been examined to show that no licence had been issued in the name of the driver. The Tribunal, however, did not rely on this evidence but found fault with the fact that the register produced by the licensing Clerk at Ferozabad contained several missing pages and that the entire record had not been brought. In my view, even if the FAO No.1863 of 2001 (O&M) - 2 - renewal register was not complete, the original issue register from Agra clearly showed that the licence had not been issued in the name of the driver and that it was fake. No evidence was adduced by the owner to give an explanation about the circumstances under which the service of the driver had been taken. The award of the Tribunal is, therefore, modified to make the insurer liable and to satisfy the claimants but afford to the insurer a right of recovery in execution proceeding in the same case against the insured. 2. The appeal is allowed on the above terms. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 22 .09.2010 sanjeev