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2014 Supreme(Chh) 471
IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH
MANINDRA MOHAN SHRIVASTAVA, J.
National Insurance Company Ltd. - Appellant
Versus
Public Utility Permanent Lok Adalat - Respondent
W.P. (227) No. 843 of 2009
Decided On : 31-01-2014
For the Appellant :Raj Awasthi and Anand Gupta, Advocate
For the Respondent:A.V. Shridhar, Advocate and Vimlesh Bajpai, Advocate
Permanent Lok Adalats do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes arising out of motor accident claim cases.
Headnote:
Jurisdiction - Permanent Lok Adalat - The court held that Permanent Lok Adalats do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes arising out of motor accident claim cases, and such disputes can only be adjudicated by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal constituted under the law.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner challenged the award passed by the Permanent Lok Adalat, claiming it was without jurisdiction and authority of law.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the Permanent Lok Adalat did not have jurisdiction to decide the issue, as it had been previously decided by the court in a similar case.
Issues: Competence and jurisdiction of Permanent Lok Adalat to decide the dispute.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was influenced by the judgment in a previous case, which held that Permanent Lok Adalats do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate motor accident claim cases.
Final Decision: The impugned award was declared illegal and set aside, with the respondent-claimant being allowed to raise the claim before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.
MANINDRA MOHAN SHRIVASTAVA, J.
1. Heard. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the impugned award dated 12th November, 2008 (Annexure P-1) passed by the Permanent Lok Adalat, Bilaspur, is without jurisdiction and authority of law He submits that the issue with regard to competence and jurisdiction of Permanent Lok Adalat to decide such issue, as has been done in the present case, has been decided by this Court in the case of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Dasru Patel and Others, AIR 2011 Chh 149 In that case, it has been held that the Permanent Lok Adalats do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute arising out of motor accident claim case and such dispute can be adjudicated only by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal constituted under the law
2. Learned Counsel for the respondent-claimant could not distinguish the aforesaid decision nor any other judgment of the Supreme Court has been placed before this Court wherein the jurisdiction and competence of Permanent Lok Adalat to adjudicate the claim's dispute has been upheld
3. In view of the above, in the opinion of this Court, the issue raised in this petition is squarely covered by the judgment of this Court in the case of Bajaj Allianz (supra). In that view of the matter, the impugned award dated 12th November, 2008 (Annexure P-1) is declared illegal and set aside However, respondent-claimant would be at liberty to raise his claim before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal under the provision of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
The petition is accordingly allowed
