Tribunal misconstrues HC order, court sets matter right

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently set right a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal's mistake in comprehending the actual purpose behind a judgment of the High Court after the tribunal demanded that a claimant implead (add) a dead person as a party in the claim petition to number it.

A division bench of the court, in its judgment dated December 12, 2019, had held that when there is an accident involving two or more vehicles, the person claiming compensation should add the owners and insurers of all vehicles involved as parties in the claim petition. Tribunals should not fix negligence or liability on a vehicle without hearing all parties, the bench had emphasised.

However, misconstruing the said order, a tribunal in Virudhunagar refused to number a claim petition on the ground that the claimant did not add the owner of one of the vehicles as a party, although the said vehicle owner is actually the deceased person for whom the compensation was being sought.

Justice R Subramanian came across the issue while hearing the civil revision petition filed by the claimant, one Senthil Kumar, challenging the tribunal's refusal to number his claim petition.

The judge said that the petitioner's grievance demonstrated the inability on the part of the tribunal to comprehend the actual purpose behind the division bench judgment. "I fail to understand as to how a deceased person can be impleaded as a party to the proceedings," the judge remarked.

He set aside the tribunal's order returning the claim petition and then directed the tribunal to number the petition 'without insisting upon the impleading of a dead person'.