Summary
A bus owner was held liable to reimburse the insurer for a Rs 31.9 lakh award. Neither the original permit nor his RTI reply was proved, and the bus was plied on a route outside the permit. The Supreme Court dismissed his appeal, those concurrent findings not being perverse. It then examined the motor accident claims regime introduced by the 2019 amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act and the 2022 Rules, which was largely not being followed. It issued all-India directions. These cover police accident reports within fixed times and special police units. They also cover reasoned settlement offers by insurers, with any later inquiry confined to enhancement, and the tagging or transfer of parallel claim petitions. Evidence is to be recorded by local commissioners at the insurer's cost where liability is disputed.
Issues
- Whether the owner was rightly held liable where he failed to prove a valid permit and the bus was plied on a route outside the permit.
- What directions are needed to implement the claims procedure under Chapters XI and XII of the Motor Vehicles Act as amended in 2019 and the Motor Vehicles (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2022.
Provisions considered
- Sections 146, 147, 149, 159, 160, 164 and 166, Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (as amended by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019)Claimants may claim limited no-fault compensation under Section 164, prove negligence under Section 166 within six months, or rely on the Section 149 settlement procedure initiated on the police accident report, which the Tribunal treats as a claim application under Section 166(4) if no petition is filed. (¶¶ 23, 24, 34, 35, 37, 40, 41, 49)
- Rules 3, 23, 24 and 30, Motor Vehicles (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2022The Investigating Officer must file the First Accident Report within 48 hours, the Interim Accident Report within 50 days and the Detailed Accident Report within 90 days; insurers must appoint Nodal and Designated Officers; and evidence in disputed-liability cases is recorded through a local commissioner. (¶¶ 29, 30, 31, 32, 47, 48, 61)
- Article 142, Constitution of IndiaInvoked to direct that where claim petitions are filed before Tribunals within different High Courts, later petitions stand transferred to the Tribunal where the first was filed, without any transfer petition. (¶ 51)
Held
- The appellant neither produced or proved the original permit nor proved the RTI information, the alleged permit dated 28.07.2012 was unexplained, and in any case the bus was plied on a route outside the permit; the concurrent findings fastening liability on the owner are not perverse and the appeal fails. (¶¶ 8, 9)
- The 2019 amendment and the 2022 Rules gave statutory form to the earlier Claims Tribunal Agreed Procedure developed in Rajesh Tyagi and Jai Prakash; police officers and registering authorities must act within the prescribed times as facilitators, and the Section 149 procedure is in addition to Sections 164 and 166 and must be followed in true spirit. (¶¶ 15, 19, 20, 33, 45, 48, 49)
- The Tribunal must register the First Accident Report as a miscellaneous application and attach the later reports; the insurer's Designated Officer must give detailed reasons for an offer; if the claimant rejects it, the inquiry under Section 149(3) is confined to enhancement with the onus on the claimant; and the Section 149 proceeding is closed and tagged once a petition under Section 164 or 166 is filed, with the place-of-accident Nodal or Designated Officer joined as a party. (¶¶ 51, 53, 55, 57, 62)
- Registrars General must issue distribution memos attaching police stations to Claims Tribunals; States must set up trained special police units for accident claims within three months and develop a joint web portal; the General Insurance Council and insurers must notify Nodal and Designated Officers; State Judicial Academies must sensitise stakeholders; and where the insurer disputes liability, evidence is to be recorded through a local commissioner at its cost. (¶¶ 53, 58, 59, 61, 62)
Result
Civil Appeal No. 9322 of 2022 dismissed, affirming the Allahabad High Court order dated 06.09.2018 in First Appeal from Order No. 3303 of 2018 and the MACT award fastening liability on the owner; general directions issued for implementing the amended Motor Vehicles Act and the 2022 Rules, with copies to all High Courts and to the Chief Secretaries and Administrators of the States and Union Territories.