M JAYANNA Vs. K RADHA KRISHNA REDDY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) It is horrifying to note how lightly and mechanically, the trial in the criminal cases and cases relating to payment of compensation are being conducted by the counsel appearing on behalf of the prosecution as well as the claimants and counsel for the insurance companies, who are considered the custodians of public money. The manner in which the proceedings are being conducted, reflects the poor state of legal expertise of the counsel and is worse than the justice administered by village elders. The police are not taking minimum care in investigating the crimes to bring home the guilt of the accused and the prosecutions are being conducted for statistical purposes, than to control the increasing crime rate. In the cases filed for payment of compensation, also no care is being taken by the counsel appearing for the parties to protect the interests of their clients. They are neither marking the relevant documents nor examine the proper persons to prove their cases. The Judges are also giving compensation at their whims and fancies without reference to the law laid down by the superior courts and applying their mind, i.e., whether evidence produced by the claimants reflects the true facts of the case or case suffers from lack of material particulars in proving their case with the result these claim applications have turned out to be a chance game.

(2.) Generally, in most cases of road accidents, the injured or the dead person, will be first taken to the government hospitals and the nature of injuries suffered by the person involved in the accident will be noted in the case-sheet maintained by the hospital authorities whether one is admitted to the hospital or treated as an outpatient. Be that as it is, neither the counsel appearing on behalf of claimants nor the counsel representing the insurance companies, do take any care or bother to summon the doctors concerned, who had in fact treated the injured or dead person, when he was brought to the hospital. The private doctors are making good of this situation and obliging the persons approaching them with false medical certificates, knowing fully well that they have not treated them at any point of time, and at times they even dare to come to the courts and give evidence on behalf of the claimants with impunity, since they know that there won't be any cross-examination worth consideration. In the absence of any proper check on such unscrupulous elements and proper assistance from the counsel, this court is unable to know whether in fact, the accident took place at all and whether records placed before the court are genuine or have been brought into existence with the connivance of the police, with a view to embezzle the public monies in the garb of compensation.

(3.) It is also becoming difficult to know whether the persons approaching the courts and claiming compensation are the persons who really suffered injuries or they are the real legal heirs of the deceased persons. Unfortunately, the police who are expected to send the F.I.R. to the concerned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal within 30 days from the date of receipt of first information as well as the charge-sheet along with all relevant documents, after completion of investigation, as required under section 158 (6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, have failed miserably in their duty to comply with the statutory provisions.