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Synopsis

The Madras High Court recently ruled that it has now become a statutory duty of the Police to send a report to the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (Tribunal) in all motor accident cases and even if an FIR is sent by the police to the Tribunal, the same should be treated a Claim Petition.

"A reading of Section 166(4) (of the Motor Vehicles Act) shows that if any report of the accident is forwarded to it under Section 159, the same shall be treated as an application for compensation. It is no more the discretion of the police. Rule 4(A)(5)(1) of the Tamil Nadu Rules read with the Central rules make it mandatory," stressed the bench of Justice V Lakshminarayanan. 

"It is pertinent to point out that the amendment under Section 166(4) does not speak about the Interim Accident Report (IAR), First Accident Report (FAR), and Detailed Accident Report (DAR) but speaks about 'any report that has been sent by the police'," court highlighted. 

Court, therefore, emphasised that on registration of an FIR, a claimant is entitled to present the petition without the fear of it being thrown out, on the ground of limitation.

Court was hearing a plea filed by a man whose claim petition had been rejected by the Tribunal for it had been filed with 8 days delay after the limitation period got over. 

The petitioner had been in a motor accident due to negligent driving of a driver in a travels company and suffered injuries. The petitioner suffered fracture in his left leg and so, he had to rely upon his family members for his day-to-day life.

The man claimed that he was suffering from disability and the doctors had advised him, being a compound wound, that he would have to take bed rest and consequently, there was a delay in claim petition. 

It is to be noted that under Section 166 (3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, no application for compensation shall be entertained unless it is made within six months of the occurrence of the accident.

However, Section 166(4) states that the Claims Tribunal shall treat any report of accidents forwarded to it under Section (159) as an application for compensation under this Act

Also, Section 159 mandates that on the occurrence of the accident the police should file an FIR and when read with the rule send a copy of the same within 48 hours within the jurisdictional MACT.

Court said, 

"The Parliament taking note of such a rapid development in Information Technology introduced Section 166(3) and 166(4) of the Motor Vehicles Act. These Sections have to be read along with Rule 150A read with Annexure XIII of Central Motor Vehicles Rules with Forms I to IX. If they are read so, then it is no more the right of an accident victim to file a claim petition under Section 166 but it has bloomed into a full-fledged duty on the part of the police."

The police on investigation have to file a FAR (First Accident Report), IAR (Interim Accident Report) and DAR (Detailed Accident Report), court underlined. 

Further, court pointed out that the claim petition need not be commenced only by way of presentation of the petition under Section 166.

"This is clear from Section 166(4) which states that a report filed by the police to the concerned Authorities including the stakeholders, Insurance Companies and the jurisdictional Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal should be treated as the Claim Petition," it held. 

Court said that Parliament in its wisdom has ensured that the hapless victims of motor accidents need not depend upon stakeholders in Court for the purpose of initiation of proceedings.

"The proceeding itself is initiated on the basis of the report filed by the Police Authorities. In effect, the petition under Section 166 is only a reminder to the Court that the police have already filed the Detailed Accident Report containing all the requisite details like the First Information Report, Interim Accident Report, First Accident Report and therefore, it has to take up the said report as a claim petition. In other words, the claim petition is only a reminder to the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal to perform its duty under Rule 21 Annexure XIII of Central Motor Vehicles Rules and to process the claim petition," said the court. 

Therefore, allowed the man's plea and while noting that the FIR in the concerned matter had been registered within 2 days, it issued a direction to treat the man's claim application as a reminder to the Court for a plea of just compensation under 166(4) and take up the application for trial.

Case Title: Malaravan V. Praveen Travels Private Limited and Others