IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH FAO No.174 of 2003 (O&M) Date of decision:28.09.2010 National Insurance Company Limited ....Appellant versus Smt. Nihali and others ....Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN Present: Mr. Neeraj Khanna, Advocate, for Mr.Ravinder Arora, Advocate, for the appellant. None for the respondents. ---- 1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest ? ---- K.Kannan, J.(Oral) 1. The Insurance Company challenges the liability on the ground that at the relevant time of the accident when the accident took place, the driver did not have a valid driving licence. The document filed in Court showed that the licence had expired on 26.02.2000 and it had been subsequently renewed only on 09.07.2001 that was valid upto 08.07.2004. The accident had taken place on 30.05.2000 during the period when there was no driving licence. The renewal beyond a period of 30 days of expiry as required under Section 15 of the Motor Vehicles Act and after the accident, cannot avail to an insured to claim indemnity. FAO No.174 of 2003 (O&M) - 2 - This aspect of the case has been dealt with by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in National Insurance Company Limited Versus Jarnail Singh-2007 (15) SCC 28. 2. The award of the Tribunal would require to be modified casting the liability on the insurer only to satisfy the claimants with liberty to recover the same from the insured/owner. 3. The appeal is allowed to the above terms. (K.KANNAN) JUDGE 28.09.2010 sanjeev