UNITED INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY Vs. RAM AVATAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) DEEPAK Gupta, Judge(oral) These three appeals are being disposed of by a common judgment, since they arise out of the same accident.

(2.) THE undisputed facts are that accident of bus No. HP-54-1565 took place on 19-9-2000 while the bus was going from Fatehpur to Badukhar. Jaswinder Singh alias Dimple was driver of the bus. THE main defence of the Insurance Company was that the driver did not have valid driving licence to drive a heavy transport vehicle.

(3.) SINCE all these cases arise out of the same accident, the only question is whether the driver had valid driving licence or not. In one of the cases, the driving licence was produced but in two other cases though the driving licence was not produced, the owner stepped into the witness box and stated that he had verified the documents and driving licence and handed over the same to the Insurance Company. Therefore it is difficult to accept the submission of the Insurance Company that the driver did not have a valid driving licence or that it could not verify the validity of the same because of the reason that the details of the driving licence were available with the Insurance Company.