ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited vs Paramjit Kaur and Others

K. Kannan, J.—The issue in this case is squarely governed by the decision of the Supreme Court that a driving licence which is not renewed on the date of accident and was allowed to expire and when no renewal application has been filed within the time allowed u/s 15 of the Motor Vehicles Act should be taken as constituting a breach of terms of policy. It is simply not available for either of the owner to contend that even after the driving licence had expired, he had not been disqualified from holding the licence. The law has undergone for a change in the manner in which the language u/s 3 is employed that requires the driver to be duly licensed. This has been considered by the Supreme Court in National Insurance Company Limited v. Jarnail Singh, 2007 (15) SCC 28 and still later in a judgment in New India Assurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Suresh Chandra Aggarwal, . This is reiteration of the law, which was made earlier relied on by the counsel for the insurance company, namely, National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Vidhyadhar Mahariwala and Others, . The liability cast on the insurance company was erroneous. The insurance company shall stand exonerated and the liability shall be fully on the driver and the owner of the vehicle, namely, the Haryana Roadways represented by the General Manager arrayed as 8th respondent. The claimants will have a right of enforcement against the State. The award insofar as casting the liability on the insurer shall stand modified and the appeal is allowed. If any portion of the award has been recovered by the claimants from the insurer or any execution petition is filed by the insurer, the insurer shall pay the amount and secure the right of recovery against the insured, namely, the State.