F.A.O.NO. 37 OF 1991 and 1 F.A.O.NO. 900 OF 1990 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH F.A.O.NO. 37 OF 1991 Date of decision:20th August, 2010 Harminder Kaur and others .......Appellants Versus Labh Singh and others ........Respondents F.A.O.NO. 900 OF 1990 The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. ......Appellant Versus Harminder Kaur and others ......Respondents BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.KANNAN Present: Mr. L.M.Suri, Senior Advocate with Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate for the Insurance Company. None for the claimants. 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 two appeals arise out of the same accident. FAO NO. 900 of 1990 is on the issue of liability by the insurer and FAO NO. 37 of 1991 is on the issue of quantum. The claim arose out of the death of a scooterist in a collision with the insured truck. The policy had been filed by the insurer and marked as Ex. R-1 where it was an act policy issued under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. The insurer pleaded restriction of liability for a third party claim at Rs. 50,000/-. The Tribunal determined a compensation F.A.O.NO. 37 OF 1991 and 2 F.A.O.NO. 900 OF 1990 of Rs. 2,92,600/- and directed the entire amount to be paid by the insurer, on a reasoning that the policy had not been proved. Where a policy is produced before the Court and exhibited as a document, that itself would constitute proof especially in summary proceedings. What was stated in the policy was again only a statutory limit of liability for an act policy governed under the 1939 Act. The Insurance Company could not have been therefore, made liable for an amount in excess of the claim for Rs. 1,50,000/-. I accept the contention of the insurer and would provide a right of recovery against the insurer by the claimant only to the extent of Rs. 1,50,000/-. The balance amount shall only be shouldered by the owner insured. 2. In the claim for enhancement of appeal, the plea is for the death of a person aged 28 years. At no point of time has there been any representation for the claimant. It appears from record that it was admitted even without any representation by the counsel and even today he is not present. The Tribunal has assessed the compensation having due record to the evidence which was adduced and I see no scope for enhancing the same. FAO NO. 900 of 1990 is allowed restricting the liability of the insurer only Rs. 1,50,000/- with interest awarded and FAO NO. 37 of 1991 filed for enhancement of the awarded amount is dismissed. [K.KANNAN] JUDGE 20th August, 2010 Shivani Kaushik