- (1.) HEARD counsel for the petitioner. Though the claimant -respondent no.1 had entered appearance after the notice but the respondent no.2 has chosen not to appear in spite of notice. Today no one appears on the behalf of the respondent no.1 to oppose the prayer made in the writ petition. The award of the Permanent Lok Adalat dated 18.1.2008 passed in P.L.A. Case No.239 of 2007 is under challenge by the petitioner Insurance Company whereby a sum of Rs. 1,18,000/ has been awarded as compensation to the respondent no.1 to be paid within one month. A pre litigation case was instituted on the application of the respondent no.1 seeking payment of compensation to the tune of Rs.6,00,000/ on account of injuries sustained by him in a road accident on 1.7.2006, when the auto rickshaw, he was travelling in, bearing registration no. JH 05M 1194 dashed a stationery truck. The injuries led to his disablement up to the extent of 40%. On notice, the insurance company appeared before the Permanent Lok Adalat and contested the claim by filing a written show cause, which is contained in Annexure 1 to the writ petition. A categorical plea was taken that the driver of the tempo bearing no. JH 05M -1194 was not authorized to drive the public vehicle at the time of alleged occurrence and hence the opposite party/ Insurance Company was not liable for payment of compensation.
(2.) IT is the contention of the petitioner that the Permanent Lok Adalat did not take any step for framing of terms of settlement and offer it to the rival parties to arrive at a compromise but proceeded to decide the dispute on merit. It failed to follow the procedure laid down under Section 22 -C(4) to (7) of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and jumped straight wayto the provision of Section 22 C(8) to decide the dispute on merit, which is not permissible in law in view of the judgment rendered by a learned Singh Judge of this Court in the case of State Bank of India, Dhanbad Vs. State of Jharkhand & another, reported in 2009 (3) JCR 374 (Jhr.) and also a Division Bench Judgment of this Court in the case of M/s. Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Kutchery Road, Ranchi Vs. Bodya Oraon & another passed in W. P. (C) No. 1975 of 2007 dated 30.4.2012. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the learned Permanent Lok Adalat has only observed that the contesting opposite party Insurance Company denied to conciliate the matter on the ground that the driving license of the driver of the auto -rickshaw was not effective on the alleged date of accident but did not follow the mandate of the Act of 1987 as indicated herein above and interpreted by the judgments of this Court referred to above. It is submitted that in such circumstances the impugned award suffers from serious error of law and the Permanent Lok Adalat having acted beyond jurisdiction, therefore, it is required to be interfered with in exercise of power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. I have heard counsel for the petitioner and gone through the impugned award and the relevant documents, which are on record. It appears that the petitioner -Insurance Company has contested the pre litigation case instituted at the behest of the respondent no.1 for seeking compensation arising out of his injuries in a motor vehicle accident claims case before the Permanent Lok Adalat. The mandate of law as prescribed under the provisions of Act of 1987 clearly lays down that Permanent Lok Adalat has to make attempts to ensure that the parties are able to arrive at a compromise after making efforts for conciliation and also to frame terms of settlement and offer it to the rival parties to agree to the same in order to arrive at an agreed settlement. In the instant case the Permanent Lok Adalat did not make any effort or attempt to frame any settlement when the matter was seriously contested on merit. Therefore, it failed to follow the procedure under Section 22 C (4) to (7) and has straight way decided the case on merit under the power under Section 22 C (8) of the Act of 1987. It is not in dispute that the Permanent Lok Adalat can entertain a dispute arising out of a motor vehicle accident claims case but it has to follow the procedure prescribed under the Act of 1987, as the aim and object of the Act is to ensure that the parties come to an agreed settlement or compromise in first place and only on failure to do so the Permanent Lok Adalat can enter into the arena of adjudication on merits. Since there is already constituted Tribunal under the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 for adjudication on merit of such claim, the forum under the Permanent Lok Adalat has been constituted to ensure that instead of getting into the rigmarole and long winding process of litigation, if the parties are agreeable to a compromise or settlement, the matter can be resolved by the forum of Permanent Lok Adalat under the provision of the Act of 1987. However, if such a procedure is not followed by the Permanent Lok Adalat, as per the mandate of the act of 1987 and it straight way proceeds to decide the dispute on merits in a manner of duly constituted Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Tribunal, then it defeats the very purpose of the Act. In these Circumstances, therefore, the impugned award cannot be sustained in law as it suffers from serious error of jurisdiction. Accordingly, the impugned award dated 18.1.2008 passed in P. L. A. Case No. 239 of 2007 is quashed.
(3.) THIS writ petition stands allowed.;