SANSAR BUS Vs. NATIONAL INSURANCE CO LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) -This appeal has been instituted by the owner of the bus against the award made by the learned First Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kangra at Dharamshala, awarding a sum of Rs. 14,294 for injury sustained by petitioner Puran Chand while he was travelling by bus No. HPK 2550.

(2.) THE insurance company contested the claim on the ground that the driving licence possessed by the driver was fake.

(3.) LEARNED counsel appearing for the appellant places reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Lal Chand v. Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., 2006 ACJ 2161 (SC), holding that where the owner had seen and examined the driving licence produced by the driver and also taken the driving test and later on it was discovered that he did not possess a driving licence, it was not open to the insurance company to plead breach of the conditions of the insurance policy. This was also the principle laid down by the court in United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Lehru, 2003 ACJ 611 (SC) and National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Geeta Bhat, 2008 ACJ 1498 (SC).