F.A.O.NO. 1741 OF 2007 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 1741 OF 2007 Date of decision:10th November, 2010 New India Assurance Company Limited, Sector-17, Chandigarh through its Authorised Officer. .......Appellant Versus Smt. Gian Kaur and others ........Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. Vinod Gupta, 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. The Insurance Company is on appeal challenging liability on the ground that on the relevant date of accident namely on 14.09.2004, the driver did not have a valid and effective driving licence. The licence had been produced by the driver himself and it showed that the licence had expired on 9.02.1999 and it had been renewed subsequently on 16.12.2005. The Tribunal adopted a reasoning that the Insurance Company had not proved that the licence was not valid. I can not accept this reasoning by virtue of the fact that the document produced in Court showed that the licence had expired F.A.O.NO. 1741 OF 2007 2 and unless this evidence was displaced by the driver or the owner that there was an effective licence on the date of the accident, the insurance company's defence that there had been a breach of terms or violation of terms of policy as regards the driving licence must have been accepted. 2. The award of the Tribunal under the circumstances is modified. The liability of the insurer shall be only to satisfy the claim of the claimants and recover the same against the owner/insured. The appeal is allowed to the above extent. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 10th November, 2010 Shivani Kaushik