ORDER :

Prayer:- Civil Revision Petition is filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, to number the unnumbered claim application in MCOP Sr.No.3659 of 2022 on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Vellore and allow the Civil Revision Petition.

The revision petition is filed against the un-numbered claim application filed in M.C.O.P. SR.No.3629 of 2022, on the file of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, District Court Vellore.

2. The grievance of the revision petitioner is that the accident occurred on 15.01.2019 at Thiruvalam to Katpadi Road and the Katpadi Police Station registered a case under Sections 279 and 337 of I.P.C. in Crime No.55 of 2019. The revision petitioner submitted a claim application on 13 April 2022. The said application was returned by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal on the ground that as per the Amendments notified to the Motor Accident claims with effect from 01.04.2022 “No application for compensation shall be entertained unless it is made within six month of the occurrence of the accident” . The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, relying on the amendment to Section 166(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, returned the application merely on the ground that the application was presented by the victim on 13 April 2022.

3. The question arises, whether the date of accident is to be taken into consideration for the purpose of implementing the amended Section 166(3) or the date of presentation of the application is to be taken into consideration for implementing the amended Section 166(3).

4. The amendment to Section 166(3) contemplates “No application for compensation shall be entertained unless it is made within six months of the occurrence of the accident.” Such an amendment cannot have any retrospective effect so as to deprive the claimant who met with an accident prior to the amendment. Though, the amendment did not speak about the date of the accident, the object of the amendment is to ensure and prevent frivolous applications, if any filed, for seeking compensation. The amendment stipulates that no application for compensation shall be entertained beyond the period of six months of the date of the accident and in the present case, on the date of the accident, the amendment was not in force and the amendment implemented with effect from 01.04.2022, is to be given effect to, with reference to the accidents took place after 01.04.2022 and not prior to the amendment. Though the application in the present case is submitted on 13.04.2022, in such cases the period of six months contemplated in the amendment is to be reckoned from the date of the amendment and not from the date of the accident. More specifically, in the cases of accidents occurred prior to the amendment on 01.04.2022, the date of amendment i.e. 01.04.2022 is to be taken into consideration for reckoning the period of six months as per the amendment. Thus, if the accident occurred prior to 01.04.2022, the applications have to be entertained, up to the expiry of the six months from the date of the amendment on 01.04.2022. In respect of the accidents occurred after 01.04.2022, automatically the amended provision under Section 166(3) is to be applied and the period of six months contemplated is to be scrupulously followed.

5. In the present case, the accident occurred in the year 2019 and the application was presented on 13 April 2022, within the period of 19 days from the date of the amendment and therefore, the application is to be entertained.

6. Provision for compensation is a welfare legislation and the accident victims cannot be unnecessarily deprived of their right to compensation. As on the date of the accident, the period of limitation was not in force and therefore they would not have filed an application within a period of 6 months. Even, in respect of accidents that occurred prior to the amendment, if the period of six months already expired, then they must be permitted to file an application within a period of six months from t