Punjab-Haryana High Court
Sardara Singh vs Durga Devi And Ors. on 14 August, 1995
Equivalent citations: 2(1997)ACC459
Author: T.H.B. Chalapathi
Bench: T.H.B. Chalapathi
JUDGMENT T.H.B. Chalapathi, J.
1. This application is filed for permission to withdraw Rs. 25,000/- deposited by the appellant while filing the appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
2. The applicants are the claimants. They filed a claim petition claiming compensation for the death of one Bal Bahadur Gurang in the motor vehicle accident that took place on 10.12.1990. The Motor Accidents Claims Tiibunal, Ambala, awarded a sum of Rs. 2,68,320/- as compensation to claimants-petitioners. The appellant filed the appeal against the said award. As required under the provisions of Section 173 of the Motor Vehicle Act, the appellant deposited a sum of Rs. 25,000/- with the Registry. The petitioners, who are the claimants, are seeking permission to withdraw the said amount. There cannot be any valid objection for payment of the amount to the rightful claimants. We, therefore, direct the Registry to remit the amount of Rs. 25,000/- to the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Ambala, for disbursement of the amount to the real and proper claimants according to law.
3. In view of the fact that the claimants are approaching this Court for the withdrawal of the amount deposited by the appellant under the prpvisions of Section 173 of the Act even in cases where the appeals are dismissed in litnine, we feel that it is necessary to give a general direction to the Registry to remit the amount so deposited to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal concerned so as to enable the Tribunal concerned to disburse the amount to the rightful claimants.
4. Under Section 140 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 a liability to pay the compensation has been fastened on the owners of the vehicle when death or permanent disability is resulted from an accident because of the use of the motor vehicle. Under Sub-section (2) of Section 140, an amount of Rs. 50,000/- in case of death and in case of permanent disability a sum of Rs. 25,000/- shall be payable by the owner to the claimants. Thus, even under 'no fault' clause the liability of the owner of the vehicle and also the Insurance Company is fixed at Rs. 50,000/- in the case of death and Rs. 25,000/- in case of permanent disability. Thus, irrespective to prove the negligence on the part of the driver of the vehicle, the owner of the vehicle and the Insurance Company are liable to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- in case of death and Rs. 25,000/- in case of permanent disability, under 'no fault' clause. Therefore, irrespective of the result of the appeal, the amount of Rs. 25,000/- deposited by the appellant while challenging the award passed by the Tribunal shall be paid to the claimants in any case. Proviso to Section 173 is intended for the benefit of the claimants, and to relieve them from hardship. Therefore, we do not see any reason to keep the said amount ofRs. 25,000/- or half of the amount of compensation which is required to be deposited while filing the appeal under the provisions of Section 173 of the Act in this Court till the final disposal of the appeal or till an application is made by the claimants for payment of the said amount. Further, this Court may not be in a position to find out as to who are the rightful claimants. The verification of the real and proper claimants will have to be made only by the Tribunal. Therefore, when the amount of deposit is intended only for the benefit of the claimants, we feel that it is just and proper to send the deposit of Rs. 25,000/- or half of the amount of compensation awarded, as the case may be, to the Tribunal concerned so that the amount can be paid to the claimants to obviate the hardship caused by the delay in realising the amount. We, therefore, give the following directions in the matter of dealing with the deposit of the amount by the appellant under the proviso to Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act:
(i) We direct the Registry to remit the amount deposited by the appellants under the proviso to Section 173 of the Act to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal concerned within one month from the date of the deposit.
(ii) The Tribunal shall issue a notice to the rightful claimants at the Court expenses and after proper verification shall disburse the said amount to the rightful claimants under a banker's cheque or account payee's cheque.
(iii) When the award has become final this amount (either Rs. 25,000/-or half of tiie amount of me award, deposited under the proviso to Section 173) can be adjusted in the final award.
5. The above directions will not in any way affect either owner of the vehicle or the Insurance Company as theif liability continues to the extent of the amount deposited even if no fault is found on the part of the driver. If the appeal filed by the Insurance Company is allowed, the Company can recover the amount from the owner of the vehicle.
6. We direct the Registry to follow the above direction in all the pending cases where the deposit has been made and in all cases to be filed in future unless there is a specific direction by the High Court to the contrary in any particular case.