MANGABHAI DALABHAI MAKWANA Vs. PRATAPBHAI MULABHAI PATEL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Challenge in this petition under Article 226 /227 of the Constitution of India is to the order dtd. 25/7/2018 passed in Motor Accident Claim Petition No. 2837 of 2004 by the learned Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Auxiliary), Dahod (the Tribunal), whereby, the learned Tribunal dismissed the said claim petition for default observing that neither the claimant nor his advocate was present.

(2.) Heard, learned advocate Mr. M. A. Chauhan for the petitioner. It is submitted that the petitioner - claimant had preferred the claim petition before the learned Tribunal and along with the claim petition, a list of documents was submitted, however, the order impugned itself shows that the claim petition has not been disposed on merits. He submitted that the petitioner - claimant being an unorganized labourer, would not have a permanent place of earning his livelihood and thus, would not be in consistent contact with his lawyer to know about the progress of the claim petition, which remained pending for a very long period and get dismissed for default.

(3.) Learned advocate Mr. Chauhan for the petitioner submitted that the learned Tribunal could have relied on the documents produced along with the claim petition to decide the case on merits or could have rather call for the information in Form 54 under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.