Reliance General Insurance Co. ... vs Master Himanshu & Ors
2014 Latest Caselaw 1549 Del

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*   IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

%                   Judgment delivered on: 24th March, 2014

+      CM(M) 1084/2012

RELIANCE GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. ..... Petitioner
                      Represented by: Mr. A.K. Soni, Adv.
             Versus
MASTER HIMANSHU & ORS                               ..... Respondents
                                 Represented by: Mr. S.Shahi and Mr. R.A.
                                 Pandey, Advs. for R1.
                                 Mr. Rajesh Srivastava, Adv. for R3.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURESH KAIT

SURESH KAIT, J. (Oral)

1. Instant petition has been filed for setting aside the order dated 19.09.2012, whereby the evidence of the petitioner was closed by the Ld. Tribunal.

2. Vide order dated 28.09.2012, this Court stayed the proceedings pending before the Claim Tribunal.

3. It is undisputed that petitioner filed its written statement, wherein no specific ground was taken that the driver of the offending vehicle was not holding valid driving licence on the date of accident.

4. It is also not in dispute that on an application being moved by the petitioner for summoning of witness from the Transport Authority to prove the factum of the driving licence, summons were issued to MLO, Transport

Authority, Faridabad, Haryana. Pursuant to the said notice, Mr. Jitender Kumar Dahiya, Secretary of the said Transport Authority, appeared in court with record on 19.09.2012. However, Ld. Tribunal did not allow to examine him for the reason that no specific plea was taken in the written statement by the petitioner and accordingly, the right to lead evidence was closed.

5. When the petitioner filed the written statement, at that time, it had not the details of the driving licence whether the same was valid on the date of accident. Meanwhile, the petitioner verified from the concerned Transport Authority. Only thereafter, they moved the application to summon a witness from the Authority to prove the factum of the licence.

6. In view of the facts noted above, I am of the considered opinion that the Ld. Tribunal was not justified to close the right of the petitioner to lead evidence. Accordingly, order dated 19.09.2012 is set aside and the petitioner is at liberty to examine the witness from the concerned Authority.

7. Accordingly, parties are directed to appear before the Ld. Tribunal on 04.04.2014, the date already fixed.

8. In view of above, petition is allowed.

CM. No. 17072/2012 With the disposal of the petition itself, instant application has become infructuous. The same is dismissed accordingly.

SURESH KAIT, J.

MARCH 24, 2014 Jg/sb