ASHA ARORA,J. - (1.) This appeal under section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (hereafter the "˜Act "™) registers a challenge to the judgment and award dated 13th February, 2014 passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, 5th Court, Barasat, North 24-Parganas. By such award, the claim application of the respondents 1 to 4 herein (hereafter the claimants) under Section 166 of the Act was allowed by awarding Rs. 11,30,396/- without interest.
(2.) The only point urged by Mr. Pahari, learned advocate for the appellant/insurer is that the individual who was driving the vehicle involved in the accident did not have a valid driving license. Our attention has been invited to pages 46 and 47 of the paper book. While page 46 is a photocopy of the driving license issued in favour of one Ajit Biswas bearing no. WB-2551625 (which was seized immediately after the accident by the police), page 47 is a document issued by the Licensing Authority, Barasat, 24 Parganas (North) wherein particulars of the driving license bearing no. WB-2551625 have been incorporated. It appears therefrom that the individual in whose favour the driving license was issued is Lalit Kumar Roy.
(3.) Mr. Pahari has also invited our attention to the deposition of O.P.W. No. 1 (Debasish Majumder), an upper division assistant working in the office of the Regional Transport Department, Barasat. In course of his examination-in-chief, the O.P.W. No. 1 was categorical in his version that the driving licenses bearing the same number cannot be issued in favour of two individuals and that the driving license bearing no. WB-2551625 was indeed issued in favour of Lalit Kumar Roy.;