MINOR VIJAYKUMAR Vs. M SUBBAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Civil Revision Petition arises out of an order passed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (District Judge) Cuddalore refusing to condone the delay of 846 days in filing the application for compensation in respect of the injuries sustained by an individual. The accident took place on 28.9.1986 and the claim petition came to be filed only on 16.10.1989. The question that calls for consideration is whether the Motor Vehicles Act of the year 1939 should be applied in considering the application or the Motor Vehicles Act of the year 1988 (section 166 (3) of the latter Act) should be applied while considering the application for condonation of the delay. Since the accident had taken place long prior to the coming into force of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988,I have no doubt in my mind that the law as it stood then only would apply while the application for condoning the delay in filing the application for compensation came up for consideration. Therefore the learned District Judge is completely in error in invoking Section 166 (3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and rejecting the application for condonation of delay stating that the delay in this case cannot be condoned on account of the specific bar enumerated in Section 166 (3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Under these circumstances, the order under challenge is set aside. The matter is remitted back to the learned District Judge (Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal) Cuddalore for reconsideration of the application on merits, and dispose it of in accordance with law. Mr.V. Raghavachari, learned counsel appearing for the revision petitioner states that on account f the rejection of the application to condone the delay in filing the main claim petition, the entire case papers relating to the Claim Petition was also returned to the petitioner. Since the order challenged in this revision is now set aside, the original returned case papers have to be necessarily represented before the learned District Judge. In view of the time taken by this Court to dispose of this revision, the learned District Judge is directed to receive the Original Case Papers relating to the claim petition, take up the petition for condonation of delay and dispose it of in accordance with law. I am informed that the Original returned Papers relating to the claim petition form part of the records in this case. The Registry is directed to return those original returned papers immediately to the counsel for the revision petitioner. The revision petitioner is given time till 12.6.1988 to re-present the case papers along with the steno-copy of this order.