Mr. A.M. Ahmadi, CJI.—The short question which arises for consideration in the present appeal is whether the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (hereinafter called ‘the National Commission’) constituted under Section 20 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (for short’ the 1986 Act’) had jurisdiction to adjudicate upon a claim for compensation arising out of a motor vehicle accident, notwithstanding the jurisdiction conferred on a Claims Tribunal constituted under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short ‘the 1988 Act’). The factual matrix in which this question arises for consideration, briefly stated, is as under:

2. Shri K. Kumar was travelling from Kombakonam to Thanjavur on the night between 2nd and 3rd June, 1990 in an omnibus which met with an accident near village Vayalur while trying to avert a bullock-cart. It appears that when the bus driver was in the process of over-taking the bullock-cart, the bullocks got panicky whereupon the driver swerved the bus to the left and ran into the branches of a tree on the road side resulting in damage to the vehicle; the window panes having been smashed. As the vehicle suddenly swerved and the driver applied the brakes S