N PUBLIC INTEREST Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan

IN PUBLIC INTEREST
Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan

PREAMBLE

I am in the midst of reading ‘From Strength to Strength’ by Arthur C Brooks, a Havard Professor, resource person, for a course on ‘Happiness’ (an oversubscribed course with overflowing students akin to Havard Professor Michael Sandel’s ‘Justice’ classes in the same campus).

Inspired by ‘mesearch’ not ‘research’ wisdom of his, it may be time for us, with acquired experiencep/knowledge in our respective careers, to ‘share it with those who are coming behind’. Time to serve public causes or time to give.

MY ENDEAVOUR
Come Friday, 1st April,2022, Chapter XI of Motor Vehicles Act,1988 ( Act) vide Act 32 of 2019, shall take effect. Along with new and modified Central Motor Vehicle Rules,1989. The changes are truly transformational and hugely impactful on the stakeholders- viz. We the People.
Each one of us needs to take note and care. It may come in handy when it matters (God forbid, it does). Innocent accident victims have a lot riding on the changes. Compulsory motor insurance is for the benefit of innocent motor accidents victims alone.
‘Road accidents are major killers in the country. More often than not it is those from the poor and underprivileged sections who are at the receiving end’, said Justice V R Krishna Iyer. It shall be my endeavour to demystify the legalese and carry the ‘changes’ to the ordinary you and me, what we may need to know, for sure.

Beginning with the issue of ‘Limitation to File Motor Accidents Claims’ , I shall post essays on the more significant of changes or lack of them, under the new dispensation w.e.f. 01.04.2022.
I would be pleased if this message goes Viral, at least in the circles with immediate concern. Not for my sake, as author of it, but the contents of it, in larger public interest. I would urge the concerned and willing reader to share it with as many as they care for.
For the changes as of 01.04.2022 shall impact us all . Law is after all for We The People

LIMITATION TO FILE MOTOR ACCIDENTS CLAIMS
NEW DISPENSATION
Sec.166 of the Act stands dramatically altered w.e.f. 01.04.2022.
166(3) No application for compensation shall be entertained unless it is made within six months of the occurrence of the accident.
There is an impactful change. Now, claims shall be entertained only if they are filed within six months of date of occurrence of accident.
OLD DISPENSATION
As of 14.11.1994 till 31.03.2022 – there was no period of Limitation to file Motor Accidents, Claims.
Claims of any antiquated period could also be laid till 31.03.2022. But not after 01.04.2022.
The impact is huge. If claims are not filed within ‘six months of date of occurrence of accident’ after 01.04.2022, they would be time-barred.
Beware of the same for everyone’s physical, mental and financial well being.
HISTORY OF THE CHANGES
Without cluttering this essay with obtuse legalise or mumbo jumbo, as the common man may perceive- let me try to make it as simple as possible.
This statute was in vogue till 01.07.1989. Thereafter MV Act,1988 took over.
Under the 1939 Act vide Sec.110-A, there was a ‘Limitation Period for Motor Accidents claims’- with discretion to Courts to ‘condone delay’ in filing for limitless period, subject to ‘sufficient cause’ being shown.
Simple and protective of interest of victims, just in case y the missed the six months’ timeline.

MV Act,1988 – as of 01.07.1989 till 14.11.1994
Sec. 166 replaced Sec110-A from the earlier dispensation. Initial period of six months as ‘ Limitation Period’ stood.
But the discretion vested in Courts to ‘condone delay’ beyond the six months’ period was restricted to a further period of ‘six months’ and not beyond.
This meant that accidents claims had to be filed within one year or twelve months of date of accident, with or without delay. If not, claim would be time-barred.
MV Act,1988- Amended Sec.166 – as of 14.11.1994
Parliament chose to rescue the lot of accidents victims.
As of 14.11.1994 – the ‘Limitation Period’ for filing accidents claims was deleted altogether under Sec.166 (3). Hence w..e.f. from 14.11.1994 till 31.03.2022, there was no ‘Limitation Period’ at all for filing motor accidents claims. Refer, Dhannalal V. D.P. Vijayvargiya 1996 (4) SCC 652. And Marudhu Pandiyar Transport v. Perumal (Mad) – 1997 1 SCC 183, for a clear and fuller picture.
NEW SEC.166- AS OF 01.04.2022
The change is here and now.
There shall be only a six months ‘Limitation Period’ for filing accidents claims after 01.04.2022.
The period is no longer ‘limitless’ as its existed till 31.03.2022.

There is no power/jurisdiction for courts to ‘condone any delay’ beyond six months of the date of occurance.

The claims shall become time-barred with no scope for the claimants to seek compensation after six months of date of occurrence of accidents, if not filed within such time.

LEGAL POSITION ON APPLICABILITY
Superficially, it would appear that such restricted period of limitation may apply only to ‘occurrence of accident’ after 01.04.2022.
No. Not true or correct. That is where the asinine faculty of Law comes to the fore.
Law of Limitation is Procedural Law. Not Substantive.
Hence, it shall be perceived as ‘Retrospective’ viz. applicable to all claims filed after 01.04.2022, including those accidents which took place before 01.04.2022.
And not confined only to those accidents occurring after 01.04.2022.
Beware of this nuance or subtlety for your own benefit.
How to Read New Sec.166 as of 01.04.2022

THOSE WITH LEGAL DISABILITY
Firstly, those with a legal disability vide minor or mental status etc- as per Sec.6 of Limitation Act,1963- can get the benefit of extension in period of limitation so long as the ‘legal disability’ lasts.
To illustrate: Minors can sue in six months after they attain majority and not necessarily within six months of date of occurrence of accident.
MEANING OF DATE OF OCCURRENCE
This is where law shall need to play its inventive and innovative role. Supposing the accident occurred on 01.04.2021, twelve months prior to 01.04.2022.

Would it mean that – claim having been filed on 01.04.2022- twelve months after ‘date of occurrence of accident’ and being beyond the stipulated ‘six months’ – would be time-barred?
No, my answer is No.
This is where the ‘ironing out the creases in the statute’ a la Motor Owners Insurance Co. Ltd vs Jadavji Keshavji Modi (SC) 1982 SCR (1) 860 shall and should take place.
Please note that the claim was alive and not time-barred as on 31.03.2022. If so, it cannot be rudely invalidated overnight. It should not be.
“Date of occurrence of accident’ can, shall and should be read as ‘date of Act’.
Meaning, all claims alive as ln 31.03.2022 shall be entitled to a further period of ‘six months’ on and from 01.04.2022 and only beyond can be construed as time-barred.
That would and should be the correct reading of the law, more so, in beneficial jurisdiction.

STAND OF INSURERS/TRANSPORT CORPORATIONS

Trust me that insurance companies/transport corporations are dying to see the light of day as of 01.04.2022. This ‘change’ has come about thanks to active lobbying with the powers that be- as limitless limitation period was hugely detrimental to insurance companies/transport corporations.

Analogously- One knows how difficult it was when insurance industry, most unfairly and unjustly, intentionally misread United India Insurance Co. Ltd v. Tilak Singh (SC) dated 04.04.2006 – 2006 (4) SCC 404 and insisted that ‘gratuitous occupants in private cars and pillion riders in two wheelers’ were not automatically covered under Package/Comprehensive policies of insurance, unless ‘additional premium’ was paid for such coverage.

The stand was totally misplaced, horribly wrong, self-interested, and commercially convenient.

Thanks to the painstaking and erudite efforts of Justice J R Midha (Retd), Delhi High Court in Yashpal Luthra v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd. (Del) dated 17.12.2009, tshe regulator Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority was thankfully compelled/constrained to issue its Circular dt.16.11.2009 to clarify against the stand of insurance industry. (We shall get to that story in a later edition). Now there is no issue or dispute on such coverage.

The insurance companies and transport corporations will surely oppose ‘entertaining’ all claims filed found beyond that ‘six months of date of occurrence of accident’, on and from 01.04.2022, either aware or unaware of the correct legal position.
Or the courts or Motor Accidents Claims Tribunals may itself wrongly ‘reject’ such claim petitions as time-barred, on a superficial reading of new Section 166(3).
That would be totally wrong. Going by my experience, it is most likely to happen.
And be a fertile ground for litigation before appellate courts also. Practitioners’ may laugh all the way to the bank, while innocent accidents victims may have to wait for a saviour to come.

OLD DISPENSATION- SEC.158(6)
This provision was an off-shoot from epistolary jurisdiction in PILs picking up causes based on simple post cards in public interest.
This provision meant that Police administration was required to send a copy of the registered FIRs to jurisdictional claims tribunals. And these FIRs can be utilised as claim petitions for the benefit of claimants. This literally ensured that no claim petition could be treated as time-barred.
In any case, as of 14.11.1994, there was no period of limitation for such claims. And unfortunately this regime ends on 31.03.2022.
This 158(6) is no longer there. So victims may seem to be hard done by.
NEW REGIME AS OF 01.04.2022
Lest the insurance companies and transport corporations rejoice that claims cannot be ‘entertained after six months of date of occurrence of accident’ – let me allude to a sobering change.

Sec.159- as of 01.04.2022- mandates police administration to file Accident Information Report containing all claim details ‘to facilitate settlement’ within three months of ‘date of occurrence of accident’.

To carry out this mandate – CMV Rule- 150-A has been introduced and alongside Annexure XIII clause (2) contemplated that ‘Investigating Officer shall intimate the accident to the Claims Tribunal within forty eight hours of the accident, by submitting the First Accident Report (FAR) in Form I”.
Well, well, well- this Form I -FIR, whether actually filed or not by the Police administration- can/shall/should be ‘deemed’ to have been filed and ‘treated’ as claim petition itself.
In effect, Parliament/Executive has knowingly or otherwise, provided for a safe passage to motor accidents victims- to avoid facing the prospect of claims not being ‘entertained’ as time-barred.
All that a victim (who has missed the bus in not filing a claim within six months of date of occurrence of accident) has to do, is this.
File a petition before the MACT- if filed after 30.9.2022 – and after ‘six months after date of occurrence of accident’ – to invoke the benefit of Sec.159- read with Form I – as above- to treat the Accident Information Report – FAR filed or mandated to be filed by Investigation Officer before jurisdictional MACT- as the Motor Accident Claim Petition, filed in time, under Sec.166.
Such course would be perfectly legitimate, legal and permissible, as that is the purport of Sec.159/Rule.150-A/Annexure XVIII/Form I – read in conjunction- as referred to above.
And this process/procedure would exclude/obviate the possibility of any motor accident claim being construed or held to be ‘time-barred’, irrespective of the date of its filing even after 01.04.2022 / 30.09.2022.
The community of victims can outwit the insurance industry and transport corporations from claiming end to ‘limitless’ period of limitation.
Law is an Ass. It can be tweaked for convenience/benefit by a smart as practitioner.

MY HUMBLE REQUEST
To all practitioners, entire Judiciary and insurance industry and transport corporations’, all stake holders, who care,

i. I beseech that they would do well to take note of this ticklish/damaging possibility and try to nip it in the bud.

ii. And to the eternal satisfaction of community of innocent motor accidents victims who may be impacted otherwise, by to iron out the creases in the changed statute –Section 166(3) – as is eminently necessary, permissible and possible.

(Author of Motor Vehicles Laws, LexisNexis Butterworths, 26th edition, 2019 (with a detailed Critique on Act 32 of 2019) and practising advocate in the Madras High Court)