High Court
Case Details
I N TH E H I GH COURT OF SI KKI M AT GAN GTOK ( CI VI L APPELLATE JURI SDI CTI ON ) M AC APPEAL N O. 0 2 OF 2 0 1 3 D ATED 2 4 - 0 6 - 2 0 1 3 CORAM TH E H ON ’BLE M R. JU STI CE S. P. W AN GD I , JUD GE The Branch Manager, The New I ndia Assur ance Com pany Lt d., Gangt ok Br anch Office, M.G. Marg, Gangt ok, East Sikkim . … Appe lla nt Ve r sus 1. Sm t . Chandra Kala Tam ang, W/ o Lat e Joel Lepcha. 2. Miss Tharchan Dolm a Lepcha, D/ o Lat e Joel Lepcha. 3. Mst r. Mingure Dorj ee Lepcha, S/ o Lat e Joel Lepcha. 4. 5.
Legal Reasoning
Shri Sant osh Rai, S/ o Pancham an Rai, R/ o Lower Ghurpisey, P.O. & P.S. Nam chi, Sout h Sikkim . Shri Mahendr a Subba, S/ o Lat e B. B. Subba, R/ o Joret hang Road, P.O. & P.S. Nam chi, Sout h Sikkim .… Re sp ond e nt s FOR THE APPELLANT : MR. SUDESH JOSHI , ADVOCATE FOR THE RESPONDENT : MR. KUMAR SHARMA, ADVOCATE NOS.1, 2 & 3 FOR THE RESPONDENT : MR. ANJAN SHARMA AND MR. CHEWANG NO.4 NORBU LEPCHA, ADVOCATES FOR THE RESPONDENT : MR. CHARLES L. LUCKSOM, ADVOCATE NO.5 MAC Appeal No.02 of 2013 2 0 R D E R ( ORAL ) Wangdi,J This Appeal is direct ed against t he j udgm ent dat ed 31.07. 2012 passed by t he learned Mem ber, Mot or Accident Claim s Tribunal, Sout h and West Sikkim at Nam chi in M.A.C.T. Case No.01 of 2011, by which deat h com pensat ion am ount ing t o Rs.11,94,300.00 was awarded in favour of t he Respondent s No.1, 2 and 3, who are t he legal heirs and successors of t he deceased, Joel Lepcha, who had died in an accident t hat t ook place at Karfect ar Dara bet ween Joret hang and Nam chi, in t he night of 22.04.2010, while t rav elling in t he accident vehicle, a Mar ut i Van bearing No.SK- 02/ 3784. 2 . The Appeal w as accom panied wit h an applicat ion for condonat ion of delay since t her e was delay of 160 days in filing t he Appeal. 3 . On 15.04.2013, when not ice was issued by t his Court , it had been m ade clear t hat before considering t he m erit s of t he Appeal, t he point of lim it at ion shall be t ak en up first . The four respondent s hav e put in appearance t oday, not ices having been served upon t hem in t erm s of t he direct ions of t his Court cont ained in it s orders dat ed 10.05. 2013, 28. 05.2013 and 07.06. 2013. 4 . Mr. Sudesh Joshi, learned Advocat e appearing on behalf of t he Appellant , while placing t he applicat ion for MAC Appeal No.02 of 2013 3 condonat ion of delay, subm it t ed t hat aft er receipt of t he cert ified copy of t he j udgm ent 31.07.2012 on 02.08. 2013, t he ent ire file concer ning t he case w as sent t o t he Divisional Office of t he New I ndia Assurance Com pany Lt d., at Siliguri for furt her st eps t o be t aken in t he m at t er. The Divisional Office aft er seeking legal advice t ook a decision t o challenge t he j udgm ent of t he learned Claim s Tribunal and accordingly, t he Appeal was filed wit h a delay of 160 day s. 5 . I have consider ed t he grounds for condonat ion of delay set out in t he applicat ion. We m ay reproduce t he relevant par agraphs for convenience below: - “ 3. That t he applicat ion for cert ified copies of t he Judgm ent was m ade on 01/ 08/ 2012 and t he sam e was obt ained on 02/ 08/ 2012. Thereaft er, t he ent ire file was sent t o t he Divisional Office of t he New I ndia Assurance Co. necessary Siliguri Lt d. orders/ direct ions. for at 4. That t he Divisional Office of t he New I ndia Assurance Co. Lt d., t hereaft er sought legal advice as t o whet her t he j udgm ent of t he Ld. Tribunal could be challenged in t he Hon’ble High Court of Sikkim .” 6 . The above are t he only t wo paragraphs in t he applicat ion t hat cont ain t he reasons, if we m ay call it so, for delay in filing t he Appeal. As is apparent from it s bare reading, t he averm ent s do not st at e any t hing what soever except t o st at e t hat t he Divisional Office of New I ndia Assurance Co. Lt d. sought legal advice on t he quest ion as t o whet her t he im pugned j udgm ent should be challenged or not . Ther e is not hing furt her. MAC Appeal No.02 of 2013 4 7 . Sect ion 173 of t he Mot or Vehicles Act , 1988 in no uncert ain t erm s m andat e t hat an Appeal should be filed wit hin a period of 90 days aft er t he dat e of t he aw ard. Of course, under t he second proviso t o Sect ion 173, discret ion is v est ed in t he High Court t o ent er t ain an Appeal aft er t he expiry of t he said period of 90 days, if it is sat isfied t hat t he Appellant w as pr event ed by sufficient cause from preferring t he Appeal in t im e. 8 . The reasons st at ed in paragraph 4, far from being considered as sufficient cause, is no cause at all, in view of t he nebulous st at em ent set out t herein. 9 . For t hese r easons, t his Court is of t he view t hat t his is not a case where discret ion should be exercised in favour of t he Appellant and condone t he unexplained inordinat e delay in filing t he Appeal. 1 0 . The Applicat ion for condonat ion of delay is accordingly rej ect ed. 1 1 . The MAC Appeal st ands dism issed as barred by lim it at ion. 1 2 . No order as t o cost s. 1 3 . I t is direct ed t hat t he award passed by t he learned Tribunal vide t he im pugned j udgm ent be paid t o t he Respondent s No.1, 2 and 3 duly com put ing t he int erest awarded wit hin a period of 15 days from t he dat e of t his order. 50% of t he am ount shall be kept in fixed MAC Appeal No.02 of 2013 5 deposit in t he nam e of t he m inor Respondent s 2 and 3, 25% in t he fixed deposit in t he nam e of t he Respondent no.1, leaving t he r est 25% in t he hands of t he Respondent no.1 t o m eet her daily expendit ure. The fixed deposit shall be m ade in a Nat ionalised Bank for a period of not less t han 5 years. The Appellant I nsurance Com pany shall subm it report of com pliance of t his direct ion before t he lear ned Tribunal, Sout h and West at Nam chi. 1 3 . Let a copy of t his Order be t r ansm it t ed t o t he Court of t he learned Mem ber, Mot or Accident Claim s Tribunal, Sout h and West at Nam chi for it s com pliance. Sd/ - ( S. P. W a ngdi ) Judge 2 4 . 0 6 .2 0 1 3 Approved for Report ing : Yes / No I nt ernet : Yes / No at