The disputed amount in the appeal, not the amount awarded, determines the maintainability under sec. 173(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

JUDGMENT

1. Heard learned counsel for the appellant on the question of maintainability of Miscellaneous Appeal since the claim amount awarded by the Claim Tribunal is only Rs.73,300.00

2. Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that they had filed claim of Rs.4,50,000.00 before the Claim Tribunal and was awarded only Rs.73,300.00, therefore, the dispute is with regard to Rs.4,50,000.00 73,300/- = Rs.3,76,700.00. Thus, the disputed amount in the appeal filed by the claimant is enhanced claim in the appeal; it is not amount awarded, which shall determine whether the appeal is maintainable under sec. 173(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 or not?. The amount in dispute is more than Rs.1,00,00.00, therefore, the appeal is maintainable.

3. In support of the contention, learned counsel for the appellant has placed reliance upon the judgment dtd. 21/11/2016 delivered by co-ordinate Bench of this Court in M.A. no. 1996/2016 (Netram Vs. Rajendra Singh Yadav and others), in which it has been held as under :

"In the present case, looking to the limitations in this Revision and the fact that the purpose of provisions contained in sec. 173(2) othe Motor Vehicles Act, is to discourage appeals by the owner, driver and the insurer for petty amounts. It cannot be said that a claimant can be rendered remedyless, therefore, if the objection is not overruled, then it will amount to miscarriage of justice, therefore, the objection pointed out bythe Registry is overrulled. In the result, the appeal is maintainable"

4. Learned counsel has also placed reliance upon the judgment delivered in the case of Pala Ram Vs. Punjab Roadways and another reported in 2007 ACJ 983, in which it has been held as under :

"4. In my opinion the argument raised is totally misconceived and ill-founded. The words used in sec. 173(2) are that the amount in dispute in appeal is less than Rs.10,000..00 In the present case the claimant in his claim petition had claimed compensation of Rs.80,000..00 He has been awarded Rs.7,000..00 He now in appeal claims compensation as claimed by him in the claim petition. Therefore, the dispute is with regard to Rs.73,000.00 and not Rs.7,000..00 The judgments relied upon by Mr. Sharma are not at all relevant for the decision of this case since in both those cases the appeals were filed by the owners of the vehicles and the award was less than the stipulated amount. When a driver, owner or insurance company files an appeal then obviously if the award is less than Rs.10,000.00 the dispute is with regard to an amount less than Rs.10,000,.00 However, when the claimant comes up in appeal for enhancement he is claiming the amount claimed by him in the claim petition and if that amount is more than Rs.10,000.00 the appeal will be maintainable. The disputed amount in an appeal filed by the claimant is the enhancement claimed in the appeal or in case where the claim petition has been dismissed the total amount claimed in the claim petition. It is not the amount awarded which will determine whether appeal is maintainable under sec. 173(2) or not. It is the amount which is in dispute in the appeal which will determine whether the appeal is maintainable. Therefore, in my opinion this objection has no basis and is accordingly rejected ".

5. Sec. 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short "the Act") reads as under :

173. Appeals.--

(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-sec. (2) any person aggrieved by an award of a Claims Tribunal may, within ninety days from the date of the award, prefer an appeal to the High Court:

Provided that no appeal by the person who is required to pay any amount in terms of such award shall be entertained by the High Court unless he has deposited with it twenty-five thousand rupees or fifty per cent. of the amount so awarded, whichever is less, in the manner directed by the High Court:

Provided further that the High Court may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of ninety days, if it is satisfied tha