Page 153 - The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988

SECTION 170 THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988 139

While determining the compensation, a Tribunal must take into consideration not only the
expectancy of life but also the future prospects, chances of promotion and other relevant factors.—
Chairman-cum-Managing Director, BSRTC v. Manju B. Sinha AIR 1992 Pat 109
The Tribunal having the trappings and attributes of a civil court are entitled to exercise the
power of review.—National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Jumrati 1993 (2) ACC 515
169. Procedure and powers of Claims Tribunals
(1) In holding any inquiry under section 168, the Claims Tribunal may, subject to
any rules that may be made in this behalf, follow such summary procedure as it thinks
fit.
(2) The Claims Tribunal shall have all the powers of a civil court for the purpose of
taking evidence on oath and of enforcing the attendance of witnesses and of compelling
the discovery and production of documents and material objects and for such other
purposes as may be prescribed; and the Claims Tribunal shall be deemed to be a civil
court for all the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973.
(3) Subject to any rules that may be made in this behalf, the Claims Tribunal may,
for the purpose of adjudicating upon any claim for compensation, choose one or more
persons possessing special knowledge of any matter relevant to the inquiry to assist it
in holding the inquiry.
1 [(4) For the purpose of enforcement of its award, the Claims Tribunal shall also
have all the powers of a Civil Court in the execution of a decree under the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), as if the award were a decree for the payment of money
passed by such court in a civil suit.]
COMMENTS
Once the insurer is a party whether pursuant to a notice of the court or otherwise and the
person against whom the claim is made does not contest the claim, the insurer gets a right to
contest the claims on all the grounds available to the person against whom the claim is made.—
Oriental Fire & General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Rajrani Surendrakumar AIR 1989 Bom 378
In the conduct of an inquiry certain specific powers contemplated in the Civil Procedure
Code have been conferred on Tribunal by the provisions of the Act as well as the Rules. The
Tribunal has all the trappings of the court. It may be that in the same State, Tribunal may or may
not be constituted in regard to certain areas. In such a contingency, with the same State in some
areas, Tribunals may have exclusive jurisdiction in regard to compensation claims and in certain
areas the jurisdiction may still continue in civil courts.—M. Mathai v. G.M. Karnataka State Road
Transport Corporation AIR 1990 Ker 92
Ragarding disbursement and investment of compensation the High Court and Supreme
Court issued guidelines. The Tribunal allowed withdrawal of huge amount contrary to guidelines
may not be held proper.—Muktaben Himmatlal v. Fatah Singh Manroji 2000 (1) GLR 393
170. Impleading insurer in certain cases
Where in the course of any inquiry, the Claims Tribunal is satisfied that—
(a) there is collusion between the person making the claim and the person
against whom the claim is made, or
(b) the person against whom the claim is made has failed to contest the claim,

1 Inserted by the Motor Vehicles (Amdt.) Act, 2019 (32 of 2019), dt. 9-8-2019, w.e.f. 1-4-2022 vide SO
859(E), dt. 25-2-2022.