F.A.O. NOs. 2142 & 2143 OF 2006, F.A.O. NOs. 4795 & 4796 OF 2006 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O. NO. 2142 OF 2006 Date of decision:10th September, 2010 National Insurance Company Limited, Regional Office SCO No. 332-334, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh, through its duly, Authorised. .......Appellant Versus Harjit Kaur and others ........Respondents F.A.O.No. 2143 of 2006 National Insurance Company Limited, Regional Office SCO No. 332-334, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh, through its duly, Authorised. .......Appellant Versus Jaswant Kaur and others ........Respondents F.A.O.No. 4795 of 2006 Jaswant Kaur and others .......Appellant Versus Vijay Kumar and others ........Respondents F.A.O.No. 4796 of 2006 Harjit Kaur and others .......Appellant Versus Vijay Kumar and others ........Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN F.A.O. NOs. 2142 & 2143 OF 2006, F.A.O. NOs. 4795 & 4796 OF 2006 2 Present: Mr. R.C.Gupra, Advocate for the Insurance Company. Mr. Vivek Sharma, Advocate, 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. All the four appeals address the same issue of the validity of the licence and the entitlement of the insurer to obtain recovery from the insured after satisfying the awards. 2. It was elicited in evidence that the driver's licence expired on 13.10.2001 and it was renewed on 12.12.2001 that was beyond a period of 30 days from the date of the licence expired. The accident took place during the intervening period on 9-11- 2001. The Tribunal found that since the renewal had been made within 30 days from the date of the accident, driver must be taken to be duly licenced. The renewal dates are relevant from the date of the expiry of the licence not from the date of the accident. Evidently, on the date when the accident took place the driver did not have a valid driving licence. Even the grace period of 30 days had expired on the day when the accident took place. In terms of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Company V. Jarnail Singh and others (2007) 15 SCC 28 , the insurer shall not be liable in such a case. 3. Learned counsel also urges that the interest should F.A.O. NOs. 2142 & 2143 OF 2006, F.A.O. NOs. 4795 & 4796 OF 2006 3 have been granted only at 7.5% and not at 9%. I shall not make any modification with the rate of interest. 4. The award shall be modified only to provide for liability of the insurer to the claimants and it shall have a right of recovery against the owner for breach of terms of the policy. The appeals are allowed to the above extent. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 10th September, 2010 Shivani Kaushik