FAO No. 31 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH FAO No. 31 of 2010 Date of decision February 14, 2011 The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. ....... Appellant Versus Rajinder Kaur and others ........Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN Present:- Mr. R. K. Bashamboo , 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. In a fire accident at the Record Section of Civil Revision/FAO Branch of this Court on 30.1.2011, several files were burnt. 2. The Registry has reported that the file is not available and it is likely that the papers connected with the case have been consumed in fire. Learned counsel for the appellant has furnished copy of all the relevant papers connected with the case. The papers submitted shall substitute the papers that are unavailable and shall constitute for all practical purposes as the records of the Court. Papers are duly reconstructed in the above fashion. 3. Learned counsel for the appellant states that service is complete. I, therefore proceed to examine the case. FAO No. 31 of 2010 2 4. The appeal refers to the issue of liability of an insurer for death due to a fall from the motor cycle alleged to have been occasioned by a collision with an unknown vehicle. The claimants were the representatives of the deceased who had borrowed the vehicle from the owner/insured. Law as stated in Ningamma Vs. United India Insurance Company reported in (2009) ACJ 2020 states to the effect that an insurer will not be liable in such a situation unless the terms of the policy makes the insurer liable in such a situation. The liability for the insurer, if at all, could be fastened only under Section 140 in the manner referred in Eshwarappa @ Maheshwarappa and another Vs. C.S. Gurushanthappa and another reported in 2010 (8) Scale 263. The award of the Tribunal is under the circumstances set aside and modified to provide for 50,000/- with interest in the manner referred to above. The appeal is allowed in the above terms. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE February 14, 2011 archana