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JURISDICTION OF THE ACCIDENT CLAIM TRIBUNALS IN REGARDS TO PERSONAL ACCIDENT CLAIMS
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JURISDICTION OF THE ACCIDENT CLAIM
TRIBUNALS IN REGARDS TO PERSONAL ACCIDENT CLAIMS
AUTHORED BY - GAURA AGARWAL
ABSTRACT
The motor vehicle Act has been set up
for the welfare of the public, and it has been set up for justice to be done to
the public under the accidents people go through, which leads to injuries,
property damage, deaths. Basically, this Act has been set up to provide people
with the compensations of claim which they suffer after the accidents to give declaration
to the people whose property has been damaged to provide with that loss, to
provide compensation to the person who got injuries for the treatment and also
if any person is deceased the balance is to be given to the family of the
deceased person The
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited Vs. Ramesh Babu.[1] The Indian Motor Vehicle Act was an amendment
in 1924. The Governor-General of India gave the assent on 18th
September 1924. It has been said as "An act further to amend the Indian
motor vehicles.
The news of
the accident is to be given to the police officer either by the driver of the
vehicle, or by the claimant, or by a witness of the accident, or by the
hospital if the person is deceased. The case is to be handled by the
jurisdiction of that area, and the police should immediately contact the
insurance company; and if the insurance is available at the point of time, they
should claim the compensation because all this compensation has a limited
period of the time.
CHAPTERIZATION
The study has been chapterized in a
manner that will enable the reader to comprehend the information it seeks to
convey quickly. Following are the brief descriptions of the chapters:
1-
The
first chapter will deal with the detailed study of who will be applicable for
asking the compensation of claim after the accident that took place.
2-
The
second chapter will clearly deal with the study of how the compensation of the
claims can be made by the claimant or by the legal representative of the
sufferer.
3-
The
third chapter will deal with the study of the new law of awards that are
provided by the government to the tribunals.
INTRODUCTION
In the motor vehicle Act, it is
mentioned that the person can only claim for compensation when there is any
bodily harm done to that person or there is the death of a person, so their
family can easily claim for the balance or if there is any damage of the
property of the third party. The claim for compensation against the motor
vehicle, which includes death or bodily harm, is covered under section 140 and section 163-A.
There should be a committee that
should settle such disputes arising out of motor vehicle claims. The committee
should consist of two to three members, among which one should be the chairman.
The committee is to be started, and members of the committee are to be selected
by the state government. The only main thing that should be kept in mind while choosing
the members the chairman should be either the retired judge of the high court
or he should be retired judge at the district court. The chairman can also be
appointed member judge of the high court and district court. Section 165
corresponds to section 110 of the motor vehicle act, 1939. When there is the negligence
of the motor vehicle, there can be same way negligence of railways so
simultaneously we can say motor vehicle and railway is the joint torts, but the
claim will lie under motor vehicle claim tribunal act 1988. Some of the case
laws included in the declaration of tribunal act are:-
Union of India v Satish Kumar Patel [2]
Gujarat State Road transport
corporation vs. Union of India[3]
Maniklal Dubey v Mohd Ismail[4]
Southern Railways v Karnataka state
road transport-corporation[5]
The application for the compensation
of the claim is covered under section 165(1). The balance can be sent by the
person who has suffered the injury, the application can be issued by the person
whose property has been damaged, in case of the death of the person, the
application can be issued by the guardian of the person or by the legal
representation of the dead person, but if all the legal representative of the
deceased person has not jointly made the application for the compensation of
the claim under the Act, then the application will be made for the benefit of
all the legal representative of the deceased person and the person who has not
joint as the legal representative will be impleaded as the respondent of the
application under the motor vehicle act. In another case as well the legal
representation of the person can also issue an application on behalf of the
person who is injured. Section 166 is the corresponding section of section 110
A of the motor vehicle act, which deals with the application of the motor
vehicle compensation claims. Clause 166 deals with the application for compensation
of the motor vehicle act; it tells about by whom application can be filled and
within what time period the claim should be made after the accident because the
person cannot file for the claim at any time there has been limited time period
provided. It also provides that if the claim tribunals want that the report and
case are to be handled by the police, then his file can be seen by the police
under clause 158 as an application for compensation under this Act.
Literature Review
The present article, it is analyzed
the meaning and origin of the jurisdiction of the accident claim tribunals in
regards to personal accident claims in relation to the Indian perspective. A
complete examination of the jurisdiction of accident claim tribunals with
regard to personal injury claims from an Indian perspective, including who can
seek compensation, how compensation can be awarded, and awards relating to balance
to the claimant.
In this, the tracks the path of India
as the compensation for claiming for the accident of a person, particularly in
relation to the tortuous responsibility of the State government to set up
committee relating to such accident claims. The emphasis is on establishing the
use of case laws to define and describe how people have been compensated with
the allegations and all the losses they suffered.
This study, it is studies and
analyses the development and evolution of the laws and acts regarding the compensation
for the claim in India. The main objective revolves around the concept of the jurisdiction
of the accident claim tribunals in regards to personal accident claims in
relation to its evolution and providing of the losses recovered within the
limited time and limited sources with the help of police.
In the present study, the opinion
that there is a need to clearly define the scope of this concept, because a
theory that allows the jurisdiction of the accident claim tribunals in regards
to personal accident claims from being circulated in its own courts, leading to
significant people aware of the claims they can ask for and recover all the
loss they have suffered. In this, the main focus is laid down on how all the
things can be done and how the claim can be asked by the claimant.
RESEARCH QUESTION
1.
Study
of who will be applicable for asking the compensation of claim after the
accident that took place.
2.
the
study of how the compensation of the claims can be made by the claimant or by the
legal representative of the sufferer.
3.
the
study of the new law of awards that are provided by the government to the
tribunals.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The objective of my research The
study titled jurisdiction of the motor accident claim tribunals in regards to
the personal accident claim seeks to reflect what exactly its title requires it
to, which is to analyze the case. The objectives of the study are enlisted
below:
It is to bring out the laws relating
to the accident compensation claim which should be provided to the sufferer and
also how our Indian acts have been so advanced that they help people to fight
for themselves to the best extend. The objective is to find out who can ask for
the claim of compensation from the party the sufferer can ask, or any legal
representative of the sufferer can ask for the balance. Secondly, the person
can ask the party who has caused them this trouble or either they can ask from the
insurance company if they have such policies like in property damage policies
provided by the company in case of death or injuries also there are many policies
of insurance. Thirdly, the government has also announced the award of the
interest to be given to the claimer with the amount of claim and extra interest
also to be provided to the sufferer and their family.
ANALYSIS
Study of who will be applicable for asking the compensation of claim
after the accident that took place.
A State Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, constitute one or more Motor Accidents Claims Tribunals for
the areas where there are more accidents happening on a daily basis for the
purpose of judging a case for compensation of claims to the family who has
suffered a loss which may be an injury to the person, property damage or death.
An application for settlement of the claim is specified under section 165(1)
can be made as follows-
a) The claimant
can be the person who has suffered the injury
b) The claimant
can be the person whose property is damaged
c) If the
person is deceased, then the claimant can be all legal representatives or
anyone legal representative of the deceased person
d) The claimant
can be any agent duly authorized by the person who suffered the injury
e) If all the
legal representatives of the dead person do not join for the application, then the
application can be made on behalf of the legal representative of a deceased
person for their benefit, and if in case any legal representative does not join,
then he can be made respondent to the application made.
Every application under sub-section (1) shall be made,
and they can be made at the option of the claimant because they have to see if the
claimant has jurisdiction at that part or not in which accident took place and
within the limit provided to the tribunals of the jurisdiction where the defendant
resides and shall be in such form and contain such particulars as may be prescribed:
It
is also provided that if there is no
claim for compensation that comes under section 140 in such applications, these
applications should have statements that are separate immediately go into
effect before the applicant sign them.
The Claims
for compensation Tribunal shall treat any file of accidents forwarded to it under section 158(6) as an application for compensation under this Act.
In the Motor
Vehicles Act, 1988, the expression "legal representative" is not
defined in Section 166 of the Act and
subsection 2 of the Act. A legal representative, which is described in section
2(11) of the CP Code, has to be addressed. According to the Motor vehicle Act,
the person who represents the deceased person or any third party means the dead
person. They have to be within the meaning of the Motor vehicle act.
To continue with the proceedings, the driver has to be present when the
case is being judged as claimed in section 166. During the proceeding of the
case, the legal representative has to show the evidence that there was
negligence in the driving of the driver, which resulted in the accident of the
owner, making the owner liable for the compensation under section 166. So, here
insurance company has to pay the amount of the settlement and also the awards
of interest. The legal representative can also ask the driver to reimburse them
with the amount of payment for the accident as the accident has happened due to
negligence of the driver; if he were aware, no harm would have been caused. Oriental Insurance Company
Limited v. Meena Variyal[7]
The right to file a claim application has to be considered in the background of the right to entitlement. – The right for the claim of
compensation application has been covered under the system because it has some
restrictions, which is named as deprivation of dependency. If we say it in
simple words, then it means multipliers are a measure. When there happen the questions of entitlement, there are three stages
involved. Firstly, the person
who is liable for the liability and the person whose liability is indemnified,
if any. Secondly is the
quantification, and S. 166 is
primarily in the nature of recovery proceedings. Terms of S. 140 contain
liability. This liability does not come to an end because of the absence of
dependency. Controversy is covered under the time and light of S.165. It also
includes the explanation of liability under S. 140 and 163-A, but this is under
the independent file of application for compensation which is judged in the background.
The required amount of the liability cannot be less than the liability referable to S. 140. The claimant, who is the legal
representative, is entitled to compensation even if there is no loss of
dependency. The amount of which should not be less than the liability avail—Manjuri Bera v. Oriental Insurance
company Ltd. [8]
Wife. – Where claimants were wife, sons, and daughter
of the deceased and it was found that sons and daughters were majors and settled
in life, held, only the wife would be entitled to Compensation: Sakharibai
Hasanali Makani v. Girish Kumar Rupchand Gadia (1997) 1 Acc. CC 668: 1997 Acc.
CJ 95(Bom.) (DB).
Remarriage
by widow-Effect. –If in case a man dies and a woman is
planning to remarry, then she can also claim for compensation till the time she
is getting married once she gets remarried; she cannot ask for compensation.
CASE LAWS REGARDING THIS ARE:
New India Assurance Co. Ltd. V. Jagdeep Riad [10](1986)
Husband. – In
the same way, a husband is a legal representative of his deceased wife, and if
the wife is earning for the family but due to the cause she died in the
accident or anything since her husband is her legal representative, he can file
for compensation of claim and for all the damages happened to him by the death
of his wife but if he remarries than he cannot file for compensation after his
marriage.
CASE LAWS RELATING TO THIS PART ARE:
M.P.
Electricity Board v. Ram Mohan[13]
The study of how the compensation of the claims can be made by the claimant
or by the legal representative of the sufferer.
(1) For all the
inquiries that are to be made by the claimant are covered under section 168,
there are rules and regulations laid down on behalf of the claim tribunals, follow
such summary procedures as it thinks fit.
(2) The claimant,
also known as Claims Tribunal, should have all the knowledge and power of the civil
court for taking oath on pieces of evidence and ensuring the attendance in the
court of witnesses, and making out all the documents and materials required in
the court and compelling up with discovery for all purposes as defined: he
should always first approach civil court under section 195 and code of criminal
procedure act, 1973.
(3) Subject to all
rules and regulations that are made on this behalf, the Claims Tribunal or Claimant
may, for designation of judging a case for compensation of claim, choose one or
more persons possessing special knowledge of any matter relevant to the inquiry
to assist it in holding the question.
The police officer who is investing the case has to claim the
compensation within the given time period, which is within 48hours after the
accident. Sanctum of the facts that the payment of the claim by the claimant
can be made by the territory of that area jurisdiction where the accident took
place and that all the information is to be recorded in the register of that
area.
If the claimant has the insurance valid during that time
period, then the investigating police officer should reach out to the insurance
company for the claim to be reimbursed within a limited time period by sending an
e-mail to an insurance company.
(4) All the
facts of the accident should also be uploaded by that area investigating police
on the website.
(5) The
information regarding the accident which is recorded in the records shall
contain all the information's which are relevant and are of that accident which
includes the date, time and place of accident, registration number of the
offending vehicle, police particulars, names and address of the owner and
driver of the offending vehicle and the terms and mobile number of the Investigating
Officer.
(6)
The police officer who is Investigating the case,
shall as far as expeditiously possible, should have the scene of the accident
photographed from all such angles as to clearly show the layout, length, and
·width, etc. of the road(s) or place, as the case may be, the position of the vehicle,
or person, involved, and such, other facts as may be relevant so as to preserve
the evidence in this regard, inter-alia for purposes of proceedings before the
Claim Tribunal or Claimant.
Procedure on receipt of the detailed accident report:
(1) The Claimant
or Claims Tribunals shall keep the check whether the Details of the Accident is
complete in all aspects and shall pass ask for the order in this matter. If the
Details of the Accident Report is not complete in any particular aspect, the claimant
shall ask the police Officer investing the case to complete the details and
shall fix a date for the completion.
(2) The
Claimant shall check the Detailed Accident file by the police officer
investigating the case as a claim petition under Section 166(4) of the Motor
Vehicles Act. However, if the claim tribunal is not being available and is not
produced by the police officer during the time of hearing in the court, the claimant
should register a detailed accident file as an extra application which is being
registered as main claim petition only if the applicant appears in the hearing
under section16
(3) The claimant
shall give 30 days to the Insurance Company to examine the Details written in the
Accident Report file and to make a decision as to the legal payment of the
money of compensation to the claimants in accordance with the law. The decision
of compensation shall be taken by the assigned Officer of the Insurance Company
in writing, and he has to give a reason for the decision. The assigned Officer
of the Insurance Company shall place the written reasoned decision before the claimant
within 30 days of the date of complete Details of Accident Report file.
(4) The compensation
offered by the assigned Officer of the Insurance Company in his written
reasoned judgment constitutes a legitimate offer to the claimants, and if the
claimants accept the offer, the Claims Tribunal will issue a consent award and
give the Insurance Company 30 days to pay the award amount. The Claims Tribunal
must, however, ensure that the claimants get just compensation in accordance
with the law before making the consent award. The Claims Tribunal must also
issue an order determining the claimants' portion and the method of payout.
(5) If the
claimants are unable to react to the Insurance Company's offer right away, the
Claims Tribunals must give them at least 30 days to respond.
(6) If the
claimants reject the Insurance Company's offer or the Insurance Company has a
legal defense, the Claims Tribunal will conduct an inquiry under Sections 168
and 169 of the Motor Vehicles Act and issue a lawful award within 30 days.
(7) The Claims
Tribunal shall register the claim case under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles
Act, 1988 if the Claims Tribunal finds that the DAR and, in particular, the
report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 197 4 annexed to such
DAR has brought a charge of rash and negligent driving, or the causing of hurt
or grievous hurt. The Claims Tribunal shall register a claim case under Section
163 A, The Motor Vehicles Act, 19 8 8 in cases where the DAR does not bring a
charge of carelessness or when the Claimant(s) before the court chooses to
claim on a no-fault basis despite the amount of negligence.
(8) The DAR
shall be treated as an application for compensation claim case in cases when
the accident in issue involves more than one vehicle and persons related to all
such cars assert a compensation claim, and the DAR shall be presumed to be a
claim case favored by each of them.
CLAIMS INSTITUTED BY WAY OF AN APPLICATION
(1) Every
application for compensation payment shall be presented by claimant in Form "G".
It shall be accompanied by as many copies as may be required, to the Claims
Tribunal having authority to pronounce on it, following Section 165 of the Act.
(2) Every
application must include the following: (a) an affidavit by the applicant
stating the statement of facts contained in the application is understandable
words to the best of their knowledge/belief, as the case may be; (b) details of
previous claims preferred by the applicant(s) about the exact cause of action,
or any other accident, and if so, what was the outcome; (b) all papers and
affidavits for proof thereof, as well as affidavits in the supply of all facts
on which the applicant depends 111 contexts of their claim, entered in a list
of documents and affidavits provided by the property: The Claims Tribunal may
not allow the applicant to rely on any document or affidavit not filed with the
application in support of their claim unless it is satisfied that they prohibited from filing such document or
affidavit earlier for good or sufficient reason. c) unless excused by the
Claims Tribunal for reasons to be documented in writing, proof of identity of
the applicant(s) to the satisfaction of the Claims Tribunal; (d) duly
documented passport-size photograph(s) of the applicant(s); (e) reports from
the investigating police officer and the registering authority; and, if no such
report(s) have been obtained, the reasons; (f) medical certificate of injuries
or the effect thereof. (3) To ensure that a bogus or collusive claim has not
been made, the Claims Tribunal may also require the applicant to provide the
following information: (a) a complete list of all previous accidents in which
the applicant or the deceased, as the case may be, was involved; (b) the nature
of the injuries sustained and the treatment received; (c) the amount of compensation
paid in previous accidents, the victim's name, and details, and the person who
paid the damages; and (d) the applicant's relationship, if any, with the
parties specified in clause (b), as well as the vehicle's owner and driver.
The study of the new law of awards provided by the government to the
tribunals.
(1) After
giving notice the application to the insurer and allowing parties (including
the insurer) to be heard, the Claims Tribunal shall hold an inquiry into claim,
as case may be, each of claims, subject to provisions of section 7(162), may
make an award determining an amount of compensation that appears to just and specifying
the person whom payment is paid. Providing that an application argues for balance
under section 140 in respect of person's death or permanently in state of
disable, as well as other claim (whether made in such application or otherwise)
for compensation, is governed. (2) The Claim Tribunal shall arrange for copies
of the award to be delivered to the parties concerned as soon as possible and
in any case within fifteen days after the award's date. (3) When the Claims
Tribunal makes an award under this section, the person who is required to pay
any amount under the award must deposit the whole amount granted within thirty
days of the Claims Tribunal's announcement of the award in the manner directed
by the Claims Tribunal. Section 168 corresponds to section 110-B of the Motor
Vehicles Act, 1939.
(2) In some situations,
compensation costs awarded. – (1) Any Claims Tribunal may make formal judgement
on claim for compensation under this Act if it is satisfied, for reasons to recorded
in writing, that - (a) the policy of insurance is void on ground that
representation of fact obtained it that was false in any material particular,
or (b) any party or insurer has made false or vexatious claim or defence, such
Tribunal may make an order for the payment, by the party who is guilty, by the
party who is innocent
(3) Under
sub-section (2), no Claims Tribunal is permitted to impose an order for extraordinary expenses
exceeding one thousand rupees (1).
(4) No person
or insurer against whom an order issued under this section shall be immune from
criminal culpability as a result of the misrepresentation, claim, or defense
described in subsection (1). (1). (4) Any compensation was given under this
section in connection with any misrepresentation, claim, or defense will be
considered in any subsequent litigation for damages for compensation in
connection with such misrepresentation, claim, or defense. The Motor Vehicles
Act of 1939 has a section 172 related to section 110-CCC. Clause 171 aims to
give Claims Tribunals the power to pay special compensation costs when it determined
that there has been a misrepresentation of the case or that the claims or
defense has been vexatious. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section
(2), Any individual who aggrieved by a Claims Tribunal award may appeal to the
High Court within ninety days of the date of the award: Unless he has deposited
with the High Court twenty-five thousand rupees or fifty percent of the sum so
awarded, whichever is less, in the manner instructed by the High Court, no
appeal by the person who compelled to pay any money in terms of such award
shall accept by the High Court: Provided also that the High Court may hear the
appeal after the ninety-day term has expired if it is satisfied that the
appellant prevented from filing the appeal in time by sufficient cause. 9 (2)
If the amount in dispute in the appeal is less than ten thousand rupees, no
appeal has been filed against a Claims Tribunal's judgment. Section 173
corresponds to section 110-D of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. Clause 172 allows
the aggrieved to appeal the Claim Tribunal's orders to the High Court, and
where the aggrieved is the person who must pay the compensation, the aggrieved
must deposit 50% of the amount granted as instructed by the High Court.
CONCLUSION
Finally,
the authority of accident claim tribunals assumes an important role in
resolving personal accident claims suitably and this is done through the
tribunals without any compromise. We have studied the mentioned topics of
jurisdiction and this main paper, that is jurisdiction scope, limits, and
claims and incentives, in details.
The finding
highlights that the tribunal of a personal accident claim, whether it arose
from road accidents, workplace injury, or medical malpractice, is generally
judged as of having the jurisdiction. But, jurisdictional powers may depend on
such factors as nature of the accident, value of the compensation claimed,
legal context of trail in which tribunal is exercising its authority from.
Another
finding is that meeting the procedural provisions and knowing whether the claim
is within the tribunal’s jurisdiction is vital. The applicants need to be
watchful and careful here to be positive that their claims are considered in
the legal or judicial forum that is the appropriate one.
In
addition, the paper provides a detailed analysis of the factors emerging from
the administrative issues handling the safety accident tribunals. Even with the
world tribunals, there are parts of the system such as the claims adjudication
delays, forum shopping by litigants, and the jurisdictional disputes among tribunals
and courts that need to be tackled for the enhancement of justice for the
accident victims.
Finally, it
is necessary to point out the main feature of accident claim tribunals which is
redressal of personal accident victims. However, there is a need for a
fundamental clarity and consistency in their jurisdictional framework. By
tackling these problems we can guarantee that negligent drivers would give
prompt and ultracomplete compensation for the damage done to the victims, which
will in turn lead us to the fair and equitable
distribution of justice.
[1] 2021 SCC OnLine SEBI 145
[2] 2001 ACJ 1568, AIR 2001 MP 41
[3] ACC 80, AIR 1988 Guj 13,
(1987) 1 GLR 559
[4] 1999 (1) MPLJ 222
[5] 1998 ACC C.J 973
[6] 2000 -1) 128 Mad. L.W. 796: (1999) 2 Acc.C.C. 518.
[7] (2007) 5 S.C.C. 414.
[8] A.I.R. 2007 S.C. 1474
[10] 1
Acc.C.C. 291
[11] A.I.R. 1986 Raj. 177.
[12] 1999) 1 Acc.C.C. 317
[13] (1998) 1 M.P.L.J. 427: 1998 Acc. C.J. 651
Article Information
JURISDICTION OF THE ACCIDENT CLAIM TRIBUNALS IN REGARDS TO PERSONAL ACCIDENT CLAIMS
Authors: GAURA AGARWAL
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2024/05/14
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
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