IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O. No. 1666 of 2007 (O&M) Date of Decision : February 02, 2009 Tota Ram and another ....Appellants Versus The National Insurance Company Ltd. and others .....Respondents CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE T.P.S. MANN Present : Mr. Ishwar Lal, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. Inderjit Sharma, Advocate for respondent No. 1. T.P.S. MANN, J. (Oral) The claimants/respondents were awarded an amount of Rs. 75,000/- along with interest as compensation by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Jalandhar vide impugned award dated 14.12.2005 on account of death of Manisha, a minor aged 1½ years. As Swaran Ram, driver was held to be not holding a valid driving licence at the time of the accident, the Tribunal directed the respondent-Insurance Company to make the payment of the compensation amount at the first instance and, thereafter, to recover the same from the driver and owners of the offending vehicle. The said award is under challenge in the present appeal filed by the owners. Along with the appeal, an application was filed for F.A.O. No. 1666 of 2007 (O&M) -2- permission to lead additional evidence by way of producing the driving licence of Swaran Ram. Learned counsel appearing for the respondent- Insurance Company states that the driving licence of Swaran Ram has now been got duly verified from District Transport Officer, Jalandhar, who has certified that Swaran Ram was holding a driving licence for driving scooter/tractor for the period from 22.1.2004 to 21.1.2009. Accordingly, Shri Manoj Mittal, an Engineer Surveyor and Loss Assessor has submitted a report that the driving licence of Swaran Ram is genuine, as per the official records. Once it is found that Swaran Ram had a valid driving licence so as to drive the tractor and the accident in question had taken place on 21.7.2004 during the currency of his driving licence, neither the driver nor the owners of the offending vehicle could have been asked to pay the amount of compensation along with interest to the Insurance Company after the latter had paid the same to the claimants. In fact, the directions issued by the Tribunal entitling the respondent-Insurance Company to recover the amount of compensation from the driver and owners of the offending vehicle cannot be sustained. Resultantly, the appeal is accepted and the impugned award to the extent of granting recovery rights to the respondent- Insurance Company, is set aside. The amount of Rs.25,000/- already deposited by the appellants under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 at the time of filing of the appeal shall be refunded to them. F.A.O. No. 1666 of 2007 (O&M) -3- ( T.P.S. MANN ) February 02, 2009 JUDGE satish