CHANDRAKANTI DAS Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By means of this writ petition, the petitioners have prayed for a writ in the nature of Mandamus commanding the opposite party No. 5 i.e. 1st M.A.C.T., Mayurbhanj, Baripada to disburse the amount settled through Lok Adalat to them without demanding any court-fee on the awarded amount.

(2.) In view of the above prayer, the question before this Court is whether the claimant in whose favour the accident claim has been settled through Lok Adalat is liable to deposit the court-fee first and thereafter get a certification from the MACT and on the basis of the certificate receive back from the Collector the full amount of court-fee or he can receive the claim even without depositing the court-fee, if not already deposited.

(3.) In the instant case the petitioners are the legal heirs of the deceased-Siba Sankar Das, who died on 3-7-2007 in a road accident and they filed the case before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Mayurbhanj, Baripada claiming compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short 'the Act, 1988'), which was registered as Misc. Case No. 116 of 2007. They did not pay court-fees at the time of filing of the claim petition and their claim petition was referred to the Zonal Mega Lok Adalat conducted at Balasore on 1-11-2008. The case was amicably settled in the Lok Adalat and an award, with the consent of the Insurance companies, to the tune of Rs. 4,98,000/- has been passed in favour of the claimants. Consequently, the Insurance Company deposited the awarded amount in shape of cheques in the name of the claimants as per terms and conditions decided between the parties in the said Lok Adalat. But since no court-fee was paid, the learned 1st MACT insisted the claimants to deposit the court-fees. Hence, the instant writ petition.