The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Judges favour quick disposal of accident cases

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 14, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Judges favour quick disposal of accident cases

Special Correspondent

— Photo: M. Vedhan

AGLOW WITH IDEAS: (From left) Arijit Pasayat, Supreme Court Judge; A.K. Ganguly, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court; and P. Sathasivam, Supreme Court Judge, at the inauguration of a seminar in Chennai on Saturday.

CHENNAI: Two Supreme Court judges on Saturday stressed the need for quick settlement of motor vehicle accident cases to compensate the families of victims early.

Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Concept of alternative dispute resolution—modern trends in commercial law and mega lok adalat’ organised by the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority and the High Court Legal Services Committee, Arijit Pasayat said the alternative dispute resolution was gaining importance. At present, courts, including High Courts and the Supreme Court, were overburdened with cases, and there was no adequate strength of judges. While the increase in the number of cases was good in that it highlighted the growing awareness among the people of their rights, there should also be a corresponding increase in the strength of judges for quick disposal, he said.

With the vehicle population and the number of accidents going up, accident victims and their families suffered because of the delay in settlement of claims, he said, calling for a mechanism to pay out the award immediately. For their part, the police should their reports with all details so that fake claims could be prevented. Insurance companies need not wait for mega lok adalats. “Do not wait for lok adalats. Do it in your offices; across the table,” he said.

Explaining how useful lok adalats were for quick settlement of claims, P. Sathasivam said that during the adalats conducted by the Supreme Court in May and this month, 46 motor vehicle cases were settled.

The next adalat is scheduled for December or January. Mr. Sathasivam requested insurance companies to print their policies in a readable font and in the local language.

After an award was passed, the State-owned transport undertakings could not comply with the order for many reasons. So, the victims prayed for execution of the orders, and buses were attached. A separate fund, as mandated by the Motor Vehicles Act, would help to avoid attachment of government-owned buses, he said.

Chief Justice of Madras High Court A.K. Ganguly said the alternative dispute resolution had been revived, through legislation, to eliminate a brooding sense of injustice among the people. It had become a movement. On Indian streets, accidents were common, but relief was rare, he said. There was a need for a humane approach to settlement of claims. “We must not allow justice to be lost in the wrangles of procedure. We should try to overcome the impediments.”

S.J. Mukhopadhaya, executive chairman, Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority, said that in the name of lok adalat, there should not be any injustice to the parties.

P.K. Misra, chairman, High Court Legal Services Committee, and M. Ramadoss and G. Srinivasan, Chairmen-cum- Managing Directors of Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company, spoke.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu