F.A.O.NO. 2899 OF 1999 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 2899 OF 1999 Date of decision:8th July, 2010 New India Assurance Co. Ltd. .......Appellant Versus Surinder Kaur and others ........Respondents F.A.O.NO.2900 OF 1999 New India Assurance Co. Ltd. .......Appellant Versus Jaspal Kaur and others .......Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. Inderjit Sharma, Advocate, for the appellant. None for the respondent. 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. Both the appeals are filed by the Insurance Company on the ground that the insurer could not have been made liable for compensation to the claimants. There was no insurance at all for passengers carried in a motor truck which was a goods carriage. The averments in the petition where that the deceased persons were travelling as members of the marriage party in a F.A.O.NO. 2899 OF 1999 2 truck and the claim was on the basis on the vehicle turned turtle and the person died. 2. There can be no liability for an insurer for passengers being carried in a goods carriage. The Tribunal passed the award against the insurer on a finding that no evidence has been led in by the insurer. 3. I am of the view that the judgment of the Tribunal is erroneous. If there was no requirement of a policy there was indeed no insurance covered for passengers in a goods carriage, the question of making the insurer liable does not arise. This has been laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Mallawa v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. (1999) 1 SCC 403 and New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs. Asha Rani and others (2003) 2 SCC 223 4. The award of the Tribunal so far is against the insurer, is set aside. The appeal is allowed. The claimants will have remedy only against the owner of the truck. If Insurance Company has already satisfied any portion of the award the Insurance Company shall not recover it from the claimants but they will restrict the right of recovery only against the vehicle. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 8th July, 2010 Shivani Kaushik