K.Kannan - (1.) THE applications for review are at the instance of the owner, who has been directed through the impugned judgment to be liable for return of the compensation awarded to the insurer after the latter satisfying the claim of the claimants. THE review applications are based on the assertion that driver had a valid driving licence and the impugned order had been passed on a finding that the driving licence did not carry a transport vehicle endorsement. Along with the applications, the owner had submitted a copy of the driving licence and after the notice was served in the application for review, the appellant had caused the production of the original licence register and the endorsement register from the licensing authority. Notice has been served to the Insurance Company and the witness, Kapil Dev Agnihotri, working in the office of MLO Barsal, District Hamirpur, had been examined as RW2. THE originals had been produced before me and the photocopies duly authenticated were tendered as evidence as RW2/1 to RW2/4. THE copies have been exhibited as evidence after comparing with the original about the exact reproduction of what the respective originals contained.
(2.) THE copy produced before the Court shows that the licence had been issued on 05.12.1994 for LMV only which was valid upto 05.12.1997. RW2/2 is the copy of endorsement register which records the fact that against the Driving Licence No.848 that Review Application No.107-CII of 2011 in FAO No.1114 of 1997 -4- was issued to the driver Pardeep Kumar, an endorsement for driving heavy goods vehicle has been made and signed by the MLO, Barsal on 24.07.1995. RW2/3 is the page following the entry in the previous page containing the endorsement. In the cross-examination of the witness by the counsel for the Insurance Company, it was elicited that after the entry of endorsement, there is still a space left and in the next page following the top portion remained torn. The attempt was to, therefore, suggest that the endorsement was a later interpolation.
(3.) I had the occasion to see the original register and the entries in the page where the endorsement is made in the endorsement register are in a serial numbers which in the particular page carrying the endorsement starts with serial Nos.138 to 142. The endorsement carrying the petitioner's name is in serial No.142.;