Non-Incorporation Of Finer Elements Of Pleadings In A Petition Under Motor Vehicles Act Not Necessarily Fatal For Claimant: J&K&L High Court

A bench comprising Justice Puneet Gupta was hearing an appeal in terms of which the petitioner had challenged the order of Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Udhampur which decided the issue regarding entitlement of the appellant herein for compensation on account of his dependency on his deceased-daughter, against him.

The appellant argued that the Tribunal had taken a very microscopic view of the matter thereby disentitling the appellant from claiming compensation in the claim petition. The evidence on record was sufficient to hold that the appellant was dependent upon the earning of the deceased daughter.

Contesting the appeal the counsel for the respondent-Insurance company vehemently argued that the appellant cannot be said to be dependant of the deceased daughter as there was not a whisper of the dependency factor in the evidence led by the claimant before the Tribunal.

Adjudicating upon the matter Justice Gupta observed that the Tribunal has referred to the statement of the petitioner wherein he has deposed that the deceased used to pay the petitioner Rs.5000/- per month and she was living with him. The claimant also stated in the statement that he has three daughters and one son and no one except the deceased was employed. It is in the context of this statement of the petitioner that the Tribunal did not find the dependency factor in favour of the claimant, the bench noted.

Examining the merits, the bench observed that there can be no denying of the fact that when one goes through the averments of the claim petition there is no plea raised in the petition specifically that the petitioner was dependent upon the earning of the deceased daughter. The petition, however, speaks of the deceased being serving in the police department as constable at the time of the accident and the mental shock and agony suffered by the petitioner and his family due to the tragic death of the deceased, who was due to get married in December, 2006, the bench recorded.

Explaining the law on the subject and the legislative intent behind Motor Vehicles Act, Justice Gupta observed that the purpose of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act is to provide succour to the persons who are dependent upon the deceased victim who has lost the life in an unfortunate accident and the finer elements of the pleadings cannot be said to prove fatal to such claims.

"The sum and substance of the claim petition should be gauged and not the phrasing of the claim petition in order to do justice in the case. The pedantic approach in this regard can deprive the petitioner of compensation which may be otherwise due to the claimant. That cannot be the legislative intent behind the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act", the bench recorded.

Deliberating further, the bench observed that the case at hand is of such nature that a narrow approach can deprive the rightful claimant of the compensation which may be otherwise due to him but for the reason that he failed to properly plead in the claim petition or explicitly state the things in the statement during the course of evidence.

The fact that the petitioner herein has filed the claim petition, mentioned the salary of the deceased unmarried daughter and during the course of evidence stated that the deceased was providing her Rs.5000/- per month of her earning to the claimant shows that the petition was filed with the intent of showing dependency upon the deceased daughter, the bench underscored.

In the light of the aforesaid discussion, the case was remanded back to the Tribunal for assessing the compensation in favour of the appellant.

Case Title: Ram Charan Singh Vs Ranjyoti Singh.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (JKL) 105

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