ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED vs KAMLESH RANI

THIS appeal under Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is directed against the order dated 29.4.1999 of the District Forum, Hoshiarpur, allowing the complaint whereby granting the following reliefs : ''The opposite party is ordered to make payment of Rs. 80,000/ - to the complainant towards her claim with interest @ 18% per annum from 16.7.1997 and they will also pay cost of Rs. 500/ - within two months of the receipt of copy of this order.''

THE only point involved in this case is whether the driver of the Matador of Registration No. DL -4CE -4203 which was insured with the opposite party from 16.12.1995 to 15.12.1996 vide Cover Note No. 65393 and Policy No. 233104/809/31/96/04483 and which met with an accident near village Rakran Bet near Balachaur on 22.8.1996, held an effective and valid driving licence at the time of accident. It suffices to mention that the opposite party has raised preliminary objection that the complaint is not maintainable as the claim has been repudiated on the ground that Sanjiv Kumar at the time of accident was holding fake driving licence. To support the objection the opposite party has relied upon Ex. O -2 and Ex. O -3 which read as under : ''The Oriental Insurance Company Limited (Subsidiary of General Insurance Corporation of India) New Radha Swami Sat Sang Ghar, Model Town, Hoshiarpur -146 001. xxx xxx xxx Deptt. Motor (Claims) 4.3.1997 The Licensing Authority, Hoshiarpur. Dear Sir, Re : Claim No. 31/97/00157 Verification of D/L No. 661/DTO/90 -91 A/c Sh. Sanjeev Kumar s/o Sh. Hari Lal. You are requested to please inform the genuineness of the above D/L No. issued to the above person by you. We have deputed Sh. G.S. Sahdev, Surveyor to collect the verification report of the above D/L and we would request you to please send your verification report at the earliest. Thanking you. Yours faithfully, Sd/ - Branch Manager.'' ''Returned with Remarks that D/L No. 661/90 -91 has been issued by this office in the name of Sh. Balbir Singh s/o Shokin Singh, Hsr. for Scooter/M. Cycle Valid upto 14.1.2008 as per record of this office. Sd/ - 21.3.1997 District Transport Officer Hoshiarpur.''

Affidavit has also been filed by Sh. T.L. Banga, Asstt. Administrative Officer, The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., Branch Office at Hoshiarpur. The relevant portion of the affidavit is given as under : ''1. That the Driving Licence No. 661/DTO/90 -91 in the name of Sanjiv Kumar s/o Shri Hari Lal has been proved to be fake after verification of the particulars of driving licence as submitted by the complainant Kamlesh Rani. As per the report of D.T.O. Hoshiarpur dated 19/21.3.1997 the said driving licence was issued in the name of one Balbir Singh s/o Shaukin Singh of Hoshiarpur which was valid only for Motor Cycle, Scooter. The original copy of the application to D.T.O. Hoshiarpur and on its reverse report of D.T.O. Hoshiarpur.'' The District Forum while deciding the case observed in the following words : ''Thus, we can say that a fake driving licence was got renewed on 8.4.1994 and was made valid upto 5.4.1997. Ex. C -4 is another copy of Renewal Driving Licence No. 266/R -93 -94 which tends to show that the same was further got renewed from 22.4.1997 to 21.4.2000. The accident is alleged to have taken place on 22.8.1996. Thus, prior to the accident the fake licence had been got validly renewed by Sanjiv Kumar which he was holding when the accident took place. In this situation, the view taken by Honble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab, Chandigarh, in Suram Singh v. The New India Assurance Company Ltd., Appeal No. 920 of 1997, decided on 3.9.1998, was, The licence having been validly renewed would be a valid driving licence as at the stage of issuing such a licence, certain formalities are required to be observed under Section 15 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The fact cannot be lost sight of that the driver may be using the motor vehicle for a number of years and thus knowing driving, gets his licence renewed from a competent authority. Thus, the legal position is that if the fake licence is validly got renewed and the driver holds that renewed licence at the time of accident then the owner cannot be made to suffer and rather the renewed driving licence is considered legal and valid. In this case also at the time of the accident, Sanjiv Kumar was holding a fake driving licence which he had got renewed from District Transport Officer, Hoshiarpur, much earlier to the accident.''

THE learned Counsel for the appellant firmly pleaded before us that renewal of an original fake driving licence would not render it as an effective or valid one. It is asserted that the claim was rightly repudiated as being contrary to the terms of the Insurance Policy and there was no deficiency in service. The learned Counsel for the opposite party pleaded that similar views has been taken by the Honble Supreme Court in New India Assurance Co. v. Kamla, in III =Civil Appeal No. 2387 of 2001 dated 27.3.2001 (Reported as 2001 -SOL -Case No. 222). The Honble Supreme Court in this case has observed in the following terms : ''As a point of law we have no manner of doubt that a fake licence cannot get its forgery outfit striped off merely on account of some officer renewing the same with or without knowing it to be forged. Section 15 of the Act only empowers any Licensing Authority to renew a driving licence issued under the provisions of this Act with effect from the date of its expiry. No Licensing Authority has the power to renew a fake licence and, therefore, a renewal if at all made cannot transform a fake licence as genuine. Any counterfeit document showing that it contains a purported order of a statutory authority would ever remain counterfeit albeit the fact that other persons including some statutory authorities would have acted on the document unwittingly on the assumption that it is genuine. The observation of the Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Sucha Singh (supra), that renewal of a document which purports to be a driving licence, will robe even a forged document with validity on account of Section 15 of the Act, propounds a very dangerous proposition. If that proposition is allowed to stand as a legal principle, it may, no doubt, thrill counterfeiters the world over as they would be encouraged to manufacture fake documents in a legion. What was originally a forgery would remain null and void for ever and it would not acquire legal validity at any time by whatever process of sanctification subsequently done on it. Forgery is antithesis to legality and law cannot afford to validate a forgery.''

HONBLE Supreme Court has also observed that the insurer and the insured are bound by the conditions enumered in the policy and the insurer is not liable to be insured if there is violation of any policy condition. But the insurer who is made statutorily liable to pay compensation to third party on account of the certificate of insurance issued shall be entitled to recover from the insured the amount paid to the third parties, if there was any breach of policy conditions on account of vehicle being delivered without a valid driving licence. In the case in hand, an original driving licence No. 661/DTO/90 -91 which was fake was got renewed by Renewal No. 266/RDL/93 -94. It is established that a fake driving licence was got renewed on 8.4.1994 and was made valid upto 5.4.1999 and was further got renewed upto 21.4.2000. After taking into consideration of all the circumstances and the observations of the Honble Supreme Court in the case (supra), we accept this appeal and set -aside the impugned order passed by the District Forum with no order as to costs.

ON 1.9.1999, without expressing any final opinion we passed an order that execution of the order of the District Forum with regard to interest beyond 12% per annum was stayed subject to payment of the remaining amount within one month which was to be paid to the complainant on furnishing security by him to the satisfaction of the District Forum for restitution in case of success of the appeal. Since the appeal has been accepted, the Insurance Company is entitled to recover the amount from the complainant, if already paid in compliance of the impugned order. The complainant will refund the amount as per order of this Commission dated 1.9.1999 as the payment to the complainant was conditional. Appeal allowed.