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Judgment
K. Venkataraman, J.—Mrs. V. Chellammal, Special Government Pleader takes notice on behalf of the respondents.
The petitioner has come forward with the present petition praying to direct the respondents to furnish him the accident information particulars in respect of the Motor Accident that took place on 2/11/2007 near Manikandam, Tiruchirapalli as mandated u/s 158(6) of the Motor vehicles Act read with Rule 150 of Central Motor Vehicles Rules and Rule 4-A of Tamil Nadu Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal Rules.
The case of the petitioner is that on 2/11/2007 at about 7.00 p.m., in N.H.45 A Viralimalai Road near Christuraj College i.e., within the limits of Ramji Nagar Police Station, Tiruchirapalli, he met with an accident, while he was travelling as a passenger in a city bus. Immediately, he was admitted in Annal Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, Tiruchirapalli and he was treated as in patient from 2/11/2007 to 6/11/2007 in I.P. No. 471160 in Ortho Ward No. 1. After discharge, he requested the second respondent to serve him with the copies of the First Information Report, wound certificate, driving license of the driver, sketch etc., to file Motor Accident compensation case. Since the second respondent has not furnished the accident particulars, the petitioner has come forward with the present writ petition for the relief set out earlier.
The matter in issue could have been disposed of easily with a direction to the respondents to furnish the particulars that have been sought for by the petitioner. But, however, I am inclined to deal with the matter in issue elaborately by incorporating the mandate provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and the various pronouncements made in this regard by the Honourable Apex Court as well as the Division Bench of the Principal Bench.
It would be more appropriate to extract Section 158 Clause 6 and 160 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Act 59 of 1988 as amended) r/w. Rule 150 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 and Rule 4 A of the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 1989 which envisages the duty cast upon the Officers incharge of the Police Stations within whose territorial limit a road traffic accident occurred.
Section 158 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 Clause (6) reads as follows:
Production of certain certificates, licence and permit in certain cases - (1) Any person driving a motor vehicle in any public place shall, on being so required by a police officer in uniform authorised in this behalf by the State Government.
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(6). As soon as any information regarding any accident involving death or bodily injury to any person is recorded or report under this Section is completed by a Police Officer, the officer incharge of the police station shall forward a copy of the same within thirty days from the date of recording of information or, as the case may be, on completion of such report to the Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction and a copy thereof to the concerned insurer, and where a copy is made available to the owner, he shall also within thirty days of receipt of such report, forward the same to such Claims Tribunal and Insurer.
Section 160 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 reads as follows:
Duty to furnish particulars of vehicle involved in accident: A registering authority or the officer in charge of a police station shall, if so required by a person who alleges that he is entitled to claim compensation in respect of an accident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle, or if so required by an insurer against whom a claim has been made in respect of any motor vehicle, furnish to that person or to that insurer, as the case may be, on payment of the prescribed fee any information at the disposal of the said authority or the said police officer relating to the identification marks and other particulars of the vehicle and the name and address of the person who was using the vehicle at the time of the accident or was injured by it and the property, if any, damaged in such form and within such time as the Central Government may prescribe.
Section 150 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 reads as follows:
Furnishing of copies of reports to claims tribunal:
(1). The police report referred to in Sub-section (6) of Section 158 shall be in Form 54.
(2). A registering authority or a police officer who is required to furnish the required information to the person eligible to claim compensation u/s 160, shall furnish the information in Form 54, within seven days from the date of receipt of the request and on payment of a fee of rupees ten.
Form 54 contains the following particulars:
Name of the Police Station....
CR No./Traffic Accident report....
Date, time and place of the accident....
Name and full address of the injured/deceased....
Name of the Hospital to which he/she was removed....
Registration Number of vehicle and the type of the vehicle....
Driving licence particulars:
(a). Name and address of the driver....
(b). Driving licence number and date of expiry....
(c). Address of the issuing authority....
(d). Badge No. in case of public service vehicle....
Name and address of the owner of the vehicle at the time of accident....
Name and address of the Insurance company with whom the vehicle was insured and the particulars of the Divisional Officer of the said insurance company.
Number of Insurance Police/Insurance certificate and the date of validity of the Insurance Police/Insurance certificate.
Registration particulars of the vehicle (class of vehicles)-
(a). Registration No....
(b). Engine number or motor number in the case of Battery Operated Vehicles.
(c). Chassis No.
Route Permit particulars....
Action taken, if any, and the result thereof....
Rule 4 A of the Tamil Nadu Motor vehicles Accidents Claims Tribunal Rules, 1989 reads as follows:
(1). Notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 3 and 24, any Police Officer not below the rank of a Sub-Inspector of Police, who is entrusted with the investigation of the motor vehicles accident, shall, without waiting for the result of the investigation or prosecution and as expeditiously as possible get an application in Forms I and II appended to these Rules from the party injured in the accident or all or any of the legal representatives of the deceased, as the case may be, and forward the same to the Claims Tribunal, who shall treat it an application for the purpose of Section 140 and 166 of the Act. The said Police Officer shall also father full particulars of the Insurance Certificate in respect of the motor vehicle involved in the accident and furnish them to the injured party or to the legal representatives of the deceased. The party concerned shall, before the Tribunal passes the award, pay the fee prescribed in Rule 24.
(2). An officer investigating into an accident shall, after a case is registered forward copies of the First Information Report relating to the accident to (i) the Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction; and (ii). the President of the District Committee for Legal Aid and Advice concerned constituted by the Tamil Nadu State Legal Aid and Advice Board;
(3). An officer investigating into an accident shall, immediately after an accident is registered, also furnish the particulars to the nearest Legal Aid Committee or centre constituted by the Tamil Nadu State Legal Aid and Advice Board;
(4). Notwithstanding anything contained in Sub-rule (3), the officer of the Transport Department inspecting the vehicle involved in an accident shall furnish immediately the following information to the Insurance Company with which the vehicle is insured:
(i). Name and address of the owner of the vehicle;
(ii). Name of the driver and/or conductor;
(iii). Registration number of the vehicle;
(iv). Particulars of permits if any, in respect of the vehicle, with validity;
(v). Date of expiry of fitness certificate; and
(vi). Date of expiry of the insurance.
Thus, Section 158(6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1989 as amended by Act 59 of 1988 stipulates that the Police Officer, in-charge of the road traffic accident should forward the copy of the report within thirty days or within such time as the case may be to the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction and to the insurance company concerned. These provisions are mandatory since the word used in that Section is "shall".
Section 160 of the Act which is extracted above would make it clear that the duty of the Police Officer concerned to the injured or the legal heirs/representatives of the victims of such accident, as the case may be, to furnish information on payment of the prescribed fee relating to the identification marks and other particulars of the vehicles or vehicles involved in the accident, name and address of the person using the said vehicle and such other information as required.
Rule 150 of the Central Motor Vehicles Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 1989 envisages that the officer in-charge of Police Station has to furnish the copies of such documents to the claimants or the authorities by prescribing a format in Form 54 appended to the said Rules. The said form extracted above would disclose the information to be furnished.
In addition to the provisions contained in Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 1989 more so, Rule 4 A extracted above would indicate that the duty is cast upon the Officer in-charge of the Police Station to send the claim applications obtained from the injured or other legal heirs of the representatives to forward the same to the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 1989 concerned.
Sub-section 4 of Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act stipulates that the Claims Tribunal shall treat such report forwarded to it as an application for compensation made u/s 140 or 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act. It would also mean to include a claim u/s 166A of the Act.
Thus, a cumulative and conjoint reading of the above referred provisions would make it clear that the Officers incharge of the Police Station within whose territorial limit, the accident took place is in a statutory application to furnish information as envisaged under the various provisions of the Act referred to above.
In this connection, it would be useful to rely on the decision of the Honourable Apex Court reported in 2007 (2) TNM 62 (SC) (General Insurance Council and Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors.). Paragraph Nos. 7, 9 and 10 of the said judgment is usefully extracted hereunder.
The language used in Sub-section (6) of Section 158 mandates the Police officer to forward a copy of the report to the Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction and to the concerned Insurance Company "as soon as any information regarding any accident involving death or bodily injury is recorded or a report u/s 158 is completed by the police officer.
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Since there is a mandatory requirement to act in the manner provided in Section 158(6) there is no justifiable reason as to why the requirement is not being followed.
It is, therefore, directed that all the State Governments and the Union Territories shall instruct, if not already done, all concerned police officers about the need to comply with the requirement of Section 158(6) keeping in view the requirement indicated in Rule 150 and in Form 54. Periodical checking shall be done by the Inspector General of Police concerned to ensure that the requirements are being complied with. In case there is non-compliance, appropriate action shall be taken against the erring officials. The Department of Transport and Highway shall make periodical verification to ensure that action is being taken and in case of any deviation immediately bring the same to the notice of the concerned State Government/Union Territories so that necessary action can be taken against the concerned officials.
Thus, the lordships of the Supreme Court had held that the mandatory requirement of the Act as provided u/s 158(6) has to be followed strictly.
The Division Bench of the Principal Bench had considered the matter in issue elaborately and directed the concerned officials to strictly comply with the provisions of the Act in a judgment reported in 2003-1-L.W. 31 (United India Insurance Co. Limited, Motor Third Party Claims Office, 38 Anna Salai, Madras 2 v. 1. R. Venkatesan and 2. Dakshinamoorthy. It would be useful to refer paragraph Nos. 19 and 21 of the said judgment.
The points as emerged from the above discussion as well as the mandatory provisions stipulated in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 1989 are enumerated hereunder for strict compliance by all the parties concerned:
(i). The Officer in charge of the Police Station/investigating Officer as soon as any information regarding any accident involving death or bodily injury to any person is recorded, shall forward a copy of the report/complaint within 30 days from the date of recording of information to the Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction, and a copy thereof to the concerned insurer, and where a copy is made available to the owner, he shall also within 30 days of receipt of such report, forward the same to such Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction and insurer.
(ii). It is the duty of the registering authority or the officer in charge of a Police Station, on request by a person who is entitled to claim compensation in respect of an accident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle, or if so required by an insurer against whom a claim has been made in respect of any motor vehicle, furnish all the particulars of the vehicle, name and address of the person who were using the vehicle at the time of the accident, details of the property damaged.
(iii). It is the duty of the Police Officer in charge of investigation to gather full particulars of the Insurance Certificate in respect of the motor vehicle involved in the accident and furnish them to the injured or to the legal representatives of the deceased. If any fee has been prescribed, the same has to be paid by the party concerned.
(iv). The Officer investigating the accident after a case is registered, forward copies of First Information Report relating to the accident to the Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction, President of the District Committee for Legal Aid and Advice. The officer of the Transport Department inspecting the vehicle (MVI) involved in an accident shall also furnish immediately the information i.e., name and address of the owner of the vehicle, name of the driver and/or conductor, registration number of the vehicle, particulars of permits if any in respect of the vehicle, with validity, date of expiry of fitness certificate, and date of expiry of the insurance to the Insurance Company with which the vehicle is insured.
(v). The claimants are duty bound to furnish correct registration number of the vehicle, full insurance particulars as furnished by the Police Officer/investigation officer. If details are wanting at the time of filing of the claim petition, it is the duty of the claimants to ascertain all those particulars either from the Police Officer/investigation officer or from the Motor Vehicle Inspector of the Transport Department or from the Tribunal having jurisdiction and mention those particulars in the claim petition.
(vi). If the insurance company feels that the particulars furnished in the claim petition are not correct or not sufficient, it shall ascertain the necessary details from the police officer/investigation officer concerned or from the office of the Motor Vehicle Inspector, and prove its case by positive evidence.
This Court trusts and hopes that if all the above mandatory provisions are fully complied with, there will not be any difficulty for the claimants as well as the Insurance Companies to put forth their respective case effectively. We culled out the above details only from the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 1989. It is mandatory for all the parties/officers namely Police Officers/Investigation Officers/Motor Vehicle Inspectors and claimants as well as the Insurance Companies to adhere to these provisions strictly.
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In view of the foregoing, we direct the Secretary to Government, Home Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, Fort St. George, Chennai 9 to communicate the relevant observation detailed in para 19 of the judgment to all Officers/Departments concerned as well as to all Insurance Companies dealing with Motor Vehicle Insurance to enable them to adhere to the instructions stated above.
The various High Courts have issued directions for strict compliance of the provisions of the said Act and they are reported in
(i). 1992 ACJ 477 (The Kerala High Court)
(ii). 2005 ACJ 344 (The High Court of Andhra Pradesh.
(iii). 2002 ACJ 2019 (The Delhi High Court)
(iv). 1995 ACJ - 714 (The Gujarat High Court).
The reason for such provisions in the Motor Vehicles Act is that the affected injured or the legal heirs of the representatives of the road accident would be affected seriously if they are not furnished with particulars regarding the place of accident the vehicle involved etc., with a view to mitigate their sufferings, the Motor Vehicles Act envisages certain provisions for furnishing copies to them. It would also avoid fraudulent and false claims.
Thus, in spite of the directions given by the Honourable Apex Court and the Division Bench of this Court, the Police Officers are not following the directions.
In view of the above stated position, I am inclined to deal with the matter in issue at length incorporating the provisions of the Act and Rules and also various pronouncements of the Honourable Apex Court, this Court as well as the other High Courts.
Considering the above facts and circumstances and also the various pronouncements referred to above, I direct the respondents to furnish the accident information particulars in respect of the motor accident that took place on 2/11/2007 near Christuraj College, Tiruchirapalli to the petitioner within two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
This writ petition is ordered accordingly. No costs.
Before parting with the matter, I am placing on record the valuable assistance rendered by Mr. M. Vallinayagam and Mr. S. Srinivasa Raghavan, Senior Members of the Bar, who have been appointed as Amicus Curiae in this matter to assist this Court, for their valuable assistance rendered in placing the correct position regarding the matter in issue.