Basheer, J.

In this appeal filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, appellant/claimant challenges inadequacy of the amount of compensation awarded to him by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal.

2. The appeal has been filed with a "free copy" obtained from the Tribunal. The Registry noted that there was delay in filing the appeal, going by the endorsements noted on the free copy.

3. The award was passed by the Tribunal on December 31, 2009. The two endorsements available on the free copy are extracted hereunder.

"Ready on 20/01/10. Issued on 23/01/10. Sd/-"

4. Sri. Mathew John, learned counsel for the appellant points out that the appeal was filed on May 17, 2010, the day on which the High Court re-opened after summer recess and therefore the appeal is well within time.

5. But when the appeal was re-presented with the above reply, the Registry persisted with its earlier stand on the question of delay and took the view that appeal had been instituted beyond the period of statutory limitation. It was also pointed out by the Registry that there was no authentication for the endorsements found on the free copy. At that stage the learned counsel requested the Registry to post the matter before the Bench for appropriate orders.

6. As has been noticed already, the endorsements available on the free copy contain only two entries; viz. the date on which the copy was ready and the date on which it was issued to the party.

7. It may at once be noticed that there is no clue as to the designation of the signatory who made the above two endorsements, though of course, the name of the signatory can be discerned. There is no seal of the designated officer or the Tribunal beneath the endorsements. In that view of the matter, the objection raised by the Registry cannot be faulted at all.

8. It has come to the notice of this Court that the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunals in the State have been issuing free copies of the award without adhering to the procedure or norms prescribed for issue of such copies. The case on hand is one such classic example.

9. Any Person aggrieved by an award of a Claims Tribunal may prefer an appeal to the High Court within 90 days from the date of the award as provided under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. Sub-section (2) of Section 168 stipulates that the Claims Tribunals shall arrange to deliver copies of the award to the parties concerned expeditiously and in any case within a period of 15 days from the date of the award (emphasis supplied).

10. Sub-rule (2) of Rule 396 of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 stipulates that an appeal against the award of a Claims Tribunal shall be accompanied by a copy of the judgment, the award appealed against and the fee prescribed in sub-rule (3) of Rule 397.

11. This Court has been entertaining a memorandum of appeal under Section 173 of the Act if it is accompanied by a (free) copy of the award issued by the Tribunal. The Tribunals in the State have been issuing free carbon copies to the claimants on payment of a nominal "document fee" of Rs.5/-soon after the awards are passed, though in some cases there occurs some delay. When such carbon copies are issued most of the Tribunals do not seem to follow any of the norms or procedure prescribed for issue of certified copies.

12. Rule 398 of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rules reads thus:

"398. Certified copies:--The rules relating to the issue of certified copies obtaining in the Civil Rules of Practice, Kerala shall mutatis mutandis apply in the case of Claims Tribunal"

13. Chapter VII in the Civil Rules of Practice, Kerala deals with certified copies and printing rules. Rule 239 which is quite relevant for our purpose is extracted hereunder:

"239. Application for copies:-- (1) Any person entitled to obtain a copy of any proceeding or document filed in or in the custody of the Court, may present an application therefor as in Form No.47 setting out the name of the applicant, his position in the sui