The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently stated that foreign driving licence not valid in India without local authorisation. While hearing an appeal filed by the driver against an order of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) at Kurukshetra, the high court on September 7 declined to depend upon the petitioner’s foreign driving licence to exonerate him from his liability in a road accident case. 

Hearing the case, Justice Deepak Gupta noted that Section 3 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle in a public place unless he holds an effective driving licence authorising him to drive that vehicle.

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The judge further pointed out, hence, a foreign driving licence will not be automatically valid in India unless it is endorsed by an Indian authority. “A foreign driving licence does not, merely because it is valid in the country of its issuance, automatically confer a right upon its holder to drive a motor vehicle in India,” Justice Deepak Gupta said.

The Tribunal had allowed the  concerned insurance company to recover the compensation amount paid by it to a road accident victim’s family from the driver provided that he did not possess a valid driving licence in India.

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