Supreme Court Questions Handwritten MACT Orders; asks Telangana High Court CJ to examine reasons

The Supreme Court has taken exception to a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal's handwritten order sheets and asked the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court to examine and find out as to why the orders were not being typed on computers.

A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Vijay Bishnoi has said, in case computers have not been provided, the reasons therefor need to be examined and immediate appropriate action is required to be taken. 

"We cannot lose sight of the fact that the entire court system is moving towards ‘paperless courts’, which means from bottom to top,'' the bench observed.

Examining an appeal filed by the National Insurance Co Ltd, the court found on perusal of the records sent by the Tribunal that the entire order sheets were handwritten. "This is despite the fact that the Government of India has spent thousands of crores of rupees in computerization of the courts throughout the country. The e-Courts project was started way back in the year 2007 and we are running into third phase thereof,'' the bench said.  

The court did not find any justification for the orders of the Tribunal to be handwritten, which otherwise were also not legible. 

It noted, even the name of the officers or their UID numbers were not mentioned below their initials on the order sheets. In the absence thereof, either it is impossible to identify the officer or anyone may have to put in extra efforts to find out the same from the records as to who was posted in that court at a particular time, the bench noted. 

Before Supreme Court, the appellant-Insurance Company assailed the order of November 19, 2025 passed by the High Court in appeal whereby the award passed by the Tribunal at Hyderabad was upheld. The Tribunal awarded a sum of Rs 2,72,03,416 to respondent, Rathlavath Chandulal, a 22-year-old youth for having suffered 100 per cent functional disability in an accident. He was a second year student at Government ITI College at Dindi, Nalwada. His income was assessed to be Rs 25,000 per month as he assisted family farming. 

The High Court had declined to examine the matter on merits as the insurance company's manager gave an undertaking before an execution court to pay the amount in view of an attachment order.

Remitting the matter to the High Court for consideration afresh, the apex court has said, the fact cannot be lost sight of that the appellant Insurance Company is a public sector undertaking. "The question here is regarding the fairness of the procedure adopted, which in our view, the Executing Court as well as the High Court has failed to adhere to,'' the bench said. 

It also pointed out, that it cannot lose sight of the fact that it was the first appeal against the award of the Tribunal, which is open for consideration before the High Court on law as well as on facts.  But the High Court having failed to exercise its jurisdiction had merely been swayed by the fact that the undertaking had been given by the Insurance Company to satisfy with the award, it noted. 

"This, at most, can be considered a case where in appeal filed by the Insurance Company, no stay is granted and as a result the judgment-debtor is to satisfy the award. Even in that eventuality, the appeal could not have been dismissed merely on that ground and had to be considered on merits by the High Court,'' the bench said.

Giving the respondent liberty to seek recall of the present order, the court directed that a sum of Rs 1,00,00,000 would released by the appellant-company in favour of Chandulal by transfer thereof in his bank account, the particulars thereof will be furnished by him to the local office of the Insurance Company.  

Case Title: National Insurance Co Ltd Vs Rathlavath Chandulal And Others

Bench: Justices Rajesh Bindal and Vijay Bishnoi

Date of Judgment: January 23, 2026