F. A. O. No. 1972 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Case No. : F. A. O. No. 1972 of 2009 Date of Decision : April 29, 2009 Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. .... Appellant Vs. Smt. Kamlesh and others .... Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE L. N. MITTAL * * * Present : Mr. Subhash Goyal, Advocate for the appellant. * * * L. N. MITTAL, J. (Oral) : This is appeal by insurer of the offending vehicle challenging Award dated 17.01.2009 of learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Rewari. I have heard learned counsel for the appellant and perused the case file. Driving license of driver Ramesh Soni (respondent no.6 herein) was produced in evidence before the Tribunal. The said driving license bears No. 23/R/94. The plea of the insurer was that the said driving license is fake. To substantiate this plea, the appellant-insurer examined Azad Singh (RW-1), Licensing Clerk from the office of Licensing Authority, Rewari. He stated that according to License Renewal Register from 28.06.1993 to 18.03.1994 brought by him, License No. 23/R/94 had been F. A. O. No. 1972 of 2009 2 issued in the name of one Shiv Sahai and not in the name of Ramesh Soni. The said license in the name of Shiv Sahai was renewed on 30.12.1993. Learned counsel for the appellant vehemently contended that the statement of Azad Singh (RW-1) proved that the driving license of Ramesh Soni produced in evidence was fake. The contention cannot be accepted because Azad Singh made his aforesaid statement from License Renewal Register and not from the License Issuance Register called by him as permanent register. Driving License No. 23/R/94 of driving license of Ramesh Soni produced in evidence was number of the originally issued license and not of renewal of license. The statement of Azad Singh – Licensing Clerk relates to renewal of driving license of the said number and does not relate to issuance of driving license of the said number. Consequently, on the basis of statement of Azad Singh – Licensing Clerk, it cannot be said that the aforesaid driving license of Ramesh Soni produced in evidence before the Tribunal was fake or was not genuine one. In addition to the aforesaid, driver and owner of the vehicle examined Suraj Bhan (RW-3) – Reader to District Revenue Officer, Rewari. He stated that on 31.08.2004, he was posted as Licensing Clerk in the office of Sub Divisional Magistrate/Licensing Authority, Rewari. He stated that the aforesaid driving license of Ramesh Soni produced in evidence had been renewed by him (the witness). He renewed the said license after verifying from the record of original license. The witness also stated that the columns in the driving license were filled in his hand. He also identified signatures of Shri Dharamvir, the then Licensing Authority, on the aforesaid driving license, of which photocopy Ex. R-1 was produced in evidence. The statement of this witness leaves no room for doubt that the aforesaid driving license of Ramesh Soni is a genuine one and had been validly renewed covering the date of accident, which took place on 02.08.2007. In view of the aforesaid, the sole contention raised on behalf of F. A. O. No. 1972 of 2009 3 the appellant is devoid of substance. Consequently, the appeal merits dismissal and is accordingly dismissed. The amount of Rs.25,000/- deposited by the appellant with the Registry of this Court while preferring this appeal be remitted to the Tribunal. April 29, 2009 ( L. N. MITTAL ) monika JUDGE