Ignorance of the existence of the Tribunal and illness due to accident injuries constitute sufficient cause for condonation of delay in filing a claim petition under Section 110 A of the Motor Vehicle Act.

1. This appeal under Section 110 D of the Motor Vehicle Act is directed against the dismissal of the claim application under section 110 A of Motor Vehicle Act filed by the appellant.

2. The material facts for the disposal of this appeal are: On 16-7-70 the appellant was on his checking duty on the National High Way at a place known as Jekhiani, near Udhampur and was checking the motor vehicles. At about 1300 hours when the petitioner was standing near a stationery jeep belonging to NPCC and bearing registration No. DLI 2537, a truck bearing No. J&K 9947, attached with Punjab Transport Company, Jammu and owned by respondents 2 to 5 came from the Jammu side and struck against the stationery jeep which consequently struck against the appellant and caused him serious bodily injuries. As a result of the said accident, the petitioner suffered some injuries. He accordingly lodged a claim petition before the Tribunal claiming compensation to the extent of Rs. 30,000/- on 15-7-1971. In the claim petition itself, the appellant prayed for the condonation of the delay caused in the filing of the claim petition. The claim petition was registered and notices were issued to the respondents. The respondents resisted the claim of the petitioner on various grounds including the one that the petition was barred by time and as such not maintainable. The Tribunal framed the following preliminary issues:

"Whether the petitioner is entitled to condonation of delay and on what grounds".

O. P. Petitioner

3. In support of this issue the appellant examined Kirthi Bhushan, Krishen Saroop, Krishen Singh and Dr. V. M. Soodan as his witnesses and himself appeared as his own witness also but the respondents did not examine any witness in rebuttal.

4. The learned tribunal after the examination of the grounds urged in support of the application for condonation of delay refused to exercise its discretion in favour of the appellant and rejected his claim petition. The appellant has come up in appeal to this court.

5. It is an admitted fact that the accident took place on 16-7-70 and the claim petition was instituted on 15-7-71. Under Section 110 A (iii) of the M. V. Act, no application for compensation shall be entertained unless it is made within Six months of the date of the occurrence of the accident. The proviso to this sub-section lays down that a Claim Tribunal may entertain the application after the expiry of the said period of six months if it is satisfied that the claimant was prevented by "sufficient cause" from making the claim petition within time. The claim petition was admittedly filed beyond the period of six months.

6. The case of the appellant before the Tribunal as also before this court is that although the Government had constituted a Tribunal under Section 110 of the M. V. Act yet he could not learn about his existence till after eleven months from the date of occurrence and that since under the Fatal Accident Act, the period prescribed for filing a claim for compensation is one year from the date of accident, he was of the impression that his petition was within time. It is urged that the appellant has not been negligent or careless in pursuing the remedy. While explaining "sufficient cause" the learned counsel for the appellant has urged that in addition to the ignorance about the existance of the Tribunal which delayed the filing of the petition the appellant was ill and confined to bed as a result of the injuries suffered due to accident and could not file the petition in time.

To questions fall for our determination in this appeal:

1. Since there has been no adjudication on merits, is the order of the Tribunal rejecting the claim application on the ground of its bring barred by time an "award" within the meaning of Section 110 D of the M. V. Act against which an appeal lies to this court.

2. Is there any "sufficient cause" to condone the delay in the filing of the claim petition.

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