- (1.) A challenge is thrown to the constitutionality of Section 168(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 on the ground that it prescribes an unreasonable and unjust procedure in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution and renders the appellate provision under section 173 of the said Act nugatory. Learned lawyer appearing for the petitioner submits that while subsection (3) of Section 168, inter alia, required the judgment-debtor to deposit the award money within thirty days in the manner as the Tribunal may direct, the period of limitation for preferring appeal under Section 173 is ninety days and that too, only upon deposit of Rs.25,000/- or 50% of the award money whichever is less. Hence, he argued that the aforesaid statutory imperative of depositing the entire award money within thirty days renders the appellate provision illusory. He further submitted that taking advantage of the aforesaid provision of law, execution proceedings are promptly instituted and attachment orders are passed to the prejudice of the judgment-debtor whose statutory right of appeal within the period of limitation is thereby rendered nugatory. Accordingly, he submitted that the aforesaid provision is arbitrary, unreasonable and cannot survive the test of reasonableness as provided under Article 14 of the Constitution.
(2.) On the other hand, learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Union of India submitted that the aforesaid provisions may be read harmoniously as they operate in different fields. While sub-section (3) of section 168 merely requires the award sum to be deposited within the timeframe prescribed therein, non-compliance of such legislative imperative dues not affect the appellate remedy provided in the Statute. He further submitted that it is always open to the appellate court, upon the appeal being preferred to pass appropriate order of stay of execution of the award pending hearing of the appeal. Accordingly, sub-section (3) of Section 168 does not affect the appellate powers under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act and cannot be said to be either ultra vires the scheme of the Act or the Constitution. I have considered the submissions of the parties. It is not a case of lack of legislative competence on the part of the legislature to enact the impugned provision. However, it has been argued that sub-section (3) of section 168 cannot remain in the statute in the face of Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act and the incorporation of such provision renders the procedure engrafted in the Act arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. Adjudication of the aforesaid issue requires examination of the aforesaid provisions which read as follows:- "Section 168. Award of the Claims Tribunal (1) On receipt of an application for compensation made under section 166, the Claims Tribunal shall, after giving notice of the application to the insurer and after giving the parties (including the insurer) an opportunity of being heard, hold an inquiry into the claim or, as the case may be, each of the claims and, subject to the provisions of section 162 may make an award determining the amount of compensation which appears to it to be just and specifying the person or persons to whom compensation shall be paid and in making the award the Claims Tribunal shall specify the amount which shall be paid by the insurer or owner or driver of the vehicle involved in the accident or by all or any of them, as the case may be : Provided that where such application makes a claim for compensation under section 140 in respect of the death or permanent disablement of any person, such claim and any other claim (whether made in such application or otherwise) for compensation in respect of such death or permanent disablement shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Chapter X. (2) The Claims Tribunal shall arrange to deliver copies of the award to the parties concerned expeditiously and in any case within a period of fifteen days from the date of the award. (3) When an award is made under this section, the person who is required to pay any amount in terms of such award shall, within thirty days of the date of announcing the award by the Claims Tribunal, deposit the entire amount awarded in such manner as the Claims Tribunal may direct." -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Section 173. Appeals. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (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 percent 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 that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the appeal in time. (2) No appeal shall lie against any award of a Claims Tribunal if the amount in dispute in the appeal is less than ten thousand rupees." Sub-section (3) of section 168 was incorporated for the first time in 1988 in the Motor Vehicles Act. The said provision, inter alia, directed that the Insurance Company is to deposit the award sum within 30 days of the award in the manner as may be directed by the Tribunal. The purpose of incorporation of the said provision was to ensure that the award money is not frittered away by an illiterate, ignorant or even minor claimant by ensuring that the said money is kept deposited by the Insurance Company in a manner as may be directed by the Tribunal. Under section 168 of the Act the Tribunal grants compensation not only for the loss of income in praesenti but also for loss of income in future. Although compensation is ordinarily awarded as a lump sum amount but the said amount so awarded is to cater for the future needs of the claimant also. To ensure that the said amount is not wasted or frittered away by an ignorant or reckless claimant, the aforesaid provision was incorporated so that the sum awarded is required to be deposited within 30 days of the date of the award preferably in a fixed deposit account maintained in a nationalized bank or otherwise as may be directed by the Tribunal. It is the duty of the Tribunal not only to award a just and fair compensation but also to ensure that the compensation so awarded is effectively utilized for the present and future needs of the claimant. Such wholesome purpose is sought to be achieved by the legislature by incorporating the aforesaid provision in the new law enacted in 1988. Prior to the enactment of such legislative provision, the Gujarat High Court in Muljibhai Vs. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., 1982 1 GLR 756 laid down guidelines that the compensation money shall be invested in a nationalized bank as a fixed deposit and interest thereon shall be paid to the claimant so as to prevent misappropriation of compensation money and to ensure effective application of such monies to ameliorate the needs of the claimants. Such guidelines, in fact, were quoted with approval and applied by the Supreme Court in Union Carbide Corporation Vs. Union of India, 1992 AIR(SC) 248 (Para-105) in the matter of dispersal of compensation for victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. What was sought to be achieved by way of judicial legislation in the form of guidelines as laid down by the Gujarat High Court in Muljibhai's case, finds legislative expression by way of incorporation of section 168(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act. Incorporation of such legislative provision, therefore, reiterates the judicial concern expressed in the aforesaid authorities and seeks to ensure that the amount of compensation awarded for future loss of income is not misappropriated by unscrupulous middlemen or wasted by ignorant claimants but kept deposited in such a manner as directed by the Tribunal so as to ensure its best utilization not only in present but also for future times. Such provision also enables effective and immediate utilization/realization of the award without requiring a claimant to resort to long drawn executing proceedings.
(3.) The scope and purpose of enacting many such provisions is, therefore, wholly independent of the appellate provision envisaged in section 173 of the Act of 1988. Section 173 of the said Act provides for a statutory appeal, which may be filed within ninety days from the date of the award. Condition precedent for preferring such an appeal is to deposit a sum of Rs.25,000/- or 50% of the award money whichever is less in a manner as may be directed by the High Court. Hence, condition precedent for preferring an appeal under section 173 is not subject to compliance of subsection 3 of Section 168 but upon deposit of Rs.25,000/- or 50% of the award money as provided under the proviso of the aforesaid provisions.;