RATILAL RANCHHODBHAI MUDETHIYA Vs. ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Yesterday, Shri C.C. Bhalja, AGP, was directed to assist this Court in this matter as it pertains to the payment of court fee by the claimants on the claim application filed by them before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (Main), Banaskantha District, Palanpur but he is not present today in the Court.

(2.) Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner. The petitioner filed a claim application in the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Main), Banaskantha District, Palanpur for compensation for the injury he received in a motor vehicular accident. He initially claimed an amount of Rs.35000.00 as compensation but later he reduced it to Rs.25,000.00 vide application Ex.17. Ultimately, learned Tribunal found that he is only entitled for an amount of Rs.5000.00 as compensation and accordingly award has been passed. It appears from the record that the petitioner was permitted to sue as an indigent person and he moved an application that from the amount of compensation awarded to him after deducting Rs.350.00 towards the court fee payable towards the awarded amount, balance amount of court fee i.e. Rs.1325.00 which is deducted from his amount of compensation to be returned to him. This application came to be rejected under the order impugned in this civil revision application.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner, relying on the provisions of Rule 212 of Gujarat Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 contended that the claimant who has succeeded in the claim application shall be liable to pay by way of fee an amount equal to the full fee leviable on the amount at which the claim is awarded by the Tribunal and not on the amount which has been claimed as compensation in the claim application.