( 1 ) ALLEGING that he suffered certain injuries in a motor accident, the respondent applied for compensation under sections 163-A and 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 ('the Act' for short), alleging negligence on the driver, though none was impleaded in that capacity.

( 2 ) THE owner did not contest.

( 3 ) THE appellant insurer disputed the liability and also challenged the maintainability of the composite application, filed invoking sections 163-A and 166. Faced with such objections, the claimant applied for deletion of section 166 from the application.

( 4 ) THE documentary evidence was, thereafter, taken on the record. No oral evidence was adduced.

( 5 ) TRIBUNAL did not find that the claimant suffered any permanent disablement. Nor was on record, any certificate, by the competent, to that effect. Bereft of that, the application was unsustainable under section 163-A. The claimant pleaded his monthly income as Rs. 5,000, that is, an annual income of Rs. 60,000, well above the bench mark of Rs. 40,000, to sustain the claim under section 163-A.

( 6 ) YET, the Tribunal passed the impugned award for compensation under different counts, includ