MOHAN BABY Vs. ALEYAMMA PAULOSE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner challenges the order of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (for brevity "MACT"), Kottayam, by which the application to set aside the ex -parte award and the application to condone the delay were dismissed.

(2.) THE brief facts are that the 7th respondent, who is the son of the petitioner, in the year 2007 when the 7th respondent was a minor, drove a motor cycle which was involved in an accident, in which the son of the 1st respondent and the husband of the 2nd respondent was injured and later succumbed to the injuries. The 1st respondent -mother and 2nd respondent -wife as also respondents 3 to 5 -children, jointly approached the MACT, by filing O.P.(M.V.) No.1852 of 2007. The 6th respondent, who was the registered owner of the vehicle, the petitioner and the 7th respondent were impleaded as respondents 1 to 3 in the claim petition. Admittedly the vehicle did not have an insurance cover.

(3.) RESPONDENTS 1 to 5, who were the claimants, as early as in the year 2011 initiated execution proceedings, by filing Execution Petition, numbered as E.P.No.218 of 2011; before the Tribunal. Notice was sent to the petitioner and the 7th respondent, but again no appearance was recorded before the execution Court also. Subsequently it was at the point of initiation of revenue recovery proceedings in the year 2013, that the petitioner woke up to the fact that he has the liability, as the person who was in legal possession of the vehicle, to satisfy the award claim to the dependants of the deceased. The petitioner, hence, filed Exhibits P2 and P3 applications, one for setting aside the ex -parte award and the other seeking condonation of the delay of 1092 days in filing an application to set aside the ex -parte award.