Judgment:
FAO No.1045 of 1996 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH (1) FAO No.1045 of 1996 (O&M) Date of decision: April 9, 2014 Oriental Insurance Co.Ltd...Appellant Versus MRS.Rao and others ...Respondents (2) FAO No.1046 of 1996 (O&M) Oriental Insurance Co.Ltd...Appellant Versus Shri Swaran Singh and others ...Respondents (3) FAO No.1047 of 1996 (O&M) Oriental Insurance Co.Ltd...Appellant Versus Balbir Singh and others ...Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE Mr.JUSTICE K.
KANNAN1 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?.
Present: Mr.Vinod Chaudhari, Advocate, for the appellant.
Mr.Arnav Sood, Advocate, for respondent No.2 in all the appeals.
Ms.Sonal Datta, Advocate, for Mr.VM Gupta, Advocate, for the United India Insurance Co.Ltd.K.KANNAN, J.
(Oral) Singh Prem 2014.04.11 16:34 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court Chandigarh FAO No.1045 of 1996 2 These appeals are at the instance of the insurance company on the issue of liability on the ground that the driver did not have valid driving licence.
The Tribunal has reasoned that no evidence was brought before the Tribunal that the driver Balbir Singh was not having a valid driving licence at the relevant time of accident.
The burden of proof of breach of terms of the policy is only on the insurer and the Tribunal has appraised the issue correctly from the stand point that nothing was brought on record to show that the driver did not have a valid driving licence.
This is normally done by the insurer requiring the production of the driving licence of the driver through the insured or by making a verification of the details contained in any licence or copy produced by the driver or owner with the official record maintained by the concerned DTOs.
If the insurer had not joined issues either for causing the production of the driving licence or for its verification, the liability fastened on the insurance company cannot be assailed.
The awards are maintained as regard the liability as well and all the appeals are dismissed.
April 9, 2014 (K.KANNAN) prem JUDGE Singh Prem 2014.04.11 16:34 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court Chandigarh