Breaking: Supreme Court Recommends Constitution Of Motor Vehicle Appellate Tribunals In View Of Large Pendency In High Courts

In view of large pendency of motor accident claims appeals before High Courts, the Supreme Court of India on Monday recommended the constitution of Motor Vehicle Appellate Tribunals in the country by amending Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act for hearing the appeals challenging the award of a Tribunal.

The Court has requested the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice to examine the matter.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Abdul Nazeer and Justice Krishna Murari has made the recommendation for speedy disposal of the appeals concerning payment of compensation to the victims of road accident, and to curtail the pendency before the High Courts.

The Bench has also suggested that no further appeal against the order of the Appellate Tribunal need be provided and if any of the parties is aggrieved by the order of the Appellate Tribunal, they can always invoke the writ jurisdiction of the concerned High Court for appropriate reliefs.

The Bench has also made the following suggestions and recommendations pertaining to constitution and composition of such Appellate Tribunals:

• The various Benches of such an Appellate Tribunal could consist of two Senior District Judges.
• The Benches of the Tribunal can be set up in various regional cities, in addition to the capital city of each State as may be indicated by the relevant High Court to ensure access to justice and avoid pendency.
• For this purpose, appropriate rules governing the procedure of the Appellate Tribunal may also be framed.

The Bench has made the recommendations noting that a large number of claim petitions, under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 are being filed before the various Claims Tribunals established thereunder throughout the country. Against the awards of the Tribunals, appeals are filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 before the relevant High Court, either by the claimants or by the insurers and owners of the offending vehicles. In turn, a large number of such appeals are pending before the various High Courts.

The recommendations have been made in a civil appeal filed challenging order dated 07.03.2018 passed by the Orissa High Court, which reduced the compensation payable to family members of the decrease who died in a motor vehicle accident from Rs.22,60,000 to Rs.17,00,000.

The Bench has recalculated the amount of compensation payable to the appellants as 31,01,000 considering the following:

• Monthly income of the deceased is Rs.15,000/- per month and application of multiplier of '16' (deceased was 33 years old)
• The annual salary of the deceased comes to Rs.1,80,000/- which has to be multiplied by '16' which becomes Rs.28,80,000/-
  
• 40% of the income of the deceased added towards loss of future prospects which comes to Rs.11,52,000
  
• One-fourth of the income i.e. 10,08,000/- has to be deducted towards the personal expenses of the deceased, as he has left behind three dependants
  
• The total amount payable to the claimants towards loss of dependency comes to Rs.30,24,000/-
  
• The claimants are entitled to 10% enhancement. Rs.16,500 is awarded towards loss of estate and conventional expenses and Rs.44,000 is awarded towards spousal consortium
  

Noting that the High Court has awarded a sum of Rs.17,00,000, the Bench has directed the respondents to deposit the balance sum of Rs.14,01,000. On such deposit being made, the same has to be disbursed to the appellants in the same proportion as directed by Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal Tribunal in Award dated 27.02.2016.

Case Title: Rasmita Biswal & Ors vs Divisional Manager, National Insurance Company Ltd & Anr

Citation: LL 2021 SC 717

Click Here To Read/Download Judgment