VIMALA JOSE Vs. ABOOBACKER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Original Petition is filed against the order dtd. 11/11/2022, whereby the claim petition preferred by the petitioner/claimant, who sustained injuries in an accident occurred on 10/5/2022, has been rejected being barred by limitation.

(2.) The facts in brief are that the petitioner while standing in front of "Choice Hyper Market", was hit by a car bearing Regn.No.KL-51/K-8212 driven by the first respondent and insured by the third respondent. The claim petition was filed on 10/11/2022 with e-filing No.C-202200074 before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, which was returned by holding it to be barred by limitation in view of the Government notification dtd. 25/2/2022 read with Sec. 53 in Gazette No.51 dtd. 9/8/2019, whereby the amendment under the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019 came into effect with effect from 1/4/2022 and incorporated in sub-sec. (3) of Sec. 166.

(3.) Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the MACT ought not to have returned the petition on this ground and ought to have called the other side and framed the issues to adjudicate whether the claim petition is barred by law of limitation or not, for, the calculation of the period of six months has to be from the date of the accident and not by counting each day in a month. In support of the aforementioned contention, relied upon paragraph No.8 of the judgment in Bibi Salma Khatoon v. State of Bihar (2001 KHC 1617), whereby after noticing the provisions of the General Clauses Act, 1977, the period of limitation has been calculated by taking note of the meaning of the word 'month' by excluding the date from which the limitation is stated to have commenced. Since the claim petition was filed on 10/11/2022, which was on the last date of six months and excluding one day, it could have been one day short of six months. Paragraph 8 of the above judgment reads as under :