A Full Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday held that insurance companies could not be asked to award compensation to an accident victim when the validity of the licence of the driver involved in a road accident had expired on the date of accident and had not been renewed within the stipulated period.
The Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice A.M. Shaffique, A.V. Ramakrishnan Pillai, Justice A. Hariprasad and Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar held that a driving licence which stood expired on the date of accident and not subsequently renewed within the statutory period of 30 days would not fulfil the required “driving licence” under section 149(a) (ii) of the Motor Vehicles Act. The court made the ruling while allowing a petition filed by the Oriental Insurance Company against an order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal directing to pay compensation to a victim.
