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17. Section 164 of the Act of 1988 stipulates payment of compensation in case of death or grievous hurt, etc. The said Section being relevant is reproduced herein under:-

"164. Payment of compensation in case of death or grievous hurt, etc.
- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force or instrument having the force of law, the owner of the motor vehicle or the authorised insurer shall be liable to pay in the case of death or grievous hurt due to any accident arising out of the use of motor vehicle, a compensation, of a sum of five lakh rupees in case of death or of two and a half lakh rupees in case of grievous hurt to the legal heirs or the victim, as the case may be.
(2) In any claim for compensation under sub-section (1), the Page No.# 26/93 claimant shall not be required to plead or establish that the death or grievous hurt in respect of which the claim has been made was due to any wrongful act or neglect or default of the owner of the vehicle or of the vehicle concerned or of any other person.
(3) Where, in respect of death or grievous hurt due to an accident arising out of the use of motor vehicle, compensation has been paid under any other law for the time being in force, such amount of compensation shall be reduced from the amount of compensation payable under this section."

18. Sub-section (1) of Section 164 starts with a non-obstinate Clause, meaning thereby that notwithstanding anything contained in the Act of 1988 or in any other law for the time being in force or instrument having the force of law, the owner of the motor vehicle or the authorized insurer shall be liable to pay in the case of death or grievous hurt due to an accident arising out of the use of the motor vehicle, a compensation of a sum of Rs.5,00,000/-(Rupees five lakhs only) in the case of death or Rs.2,50,000/- (Rupees two lakhs fifty thousand only) in the case of grievous hurt to the legal heirs or the victim, as the case may be.

Sub-section (3) of Section 164 further stipulates that where in respect of death or grievous hurt due to an accident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle, an amount of compensation has been paid under any other law for the time being in force, such amount of compensation shall be reduced from the amount of compensation payable under Section 164.

In other words, a conjoint reading of all the three Sub-sections of Section 164 of the Act of 1988 would show that when the owner of the motor vehicle or the authorized insurer is identifiable, the claimant in the case of death or the victim who suffers grievous injury as the case may be, would be entitled to Rs.5,00,000/- in the case of death and Rs.2,50,000/- in the case of grievous hurt respectively without providing any wrongful act or neglect or default of the owner of the vehicle or the vehicle concerned or any other person. It is also very pertinent to take Page No.# 28/93 note of that Section 164 of the Act of 1988 on its own does not mention where the claim application is required to be filed. It appears that from a reading of the Explanation to Section 165 of the Act of 1988, that the application is required to be filed in the Claims Tribunal.