Telangana HC displeased by Centre setting 6-month deadline for accident claims

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the new amendment to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, which allows accident victims only six months to file claims as per Section 166 (3) of the Act that came into effect on April 1, 2022.

Previously, affected parties had the right to file a claim petition at any point in time, untrammelled by the objection of limitation.

The division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji observed that six months was a “very short time period” for family members of the deceased to apply for an accident claim, as they would be suffering from the trauma of the loss.

The court said that a minimum period of one year should be allotted and appointed senior advocate P. Sriraghu Ram as the amicus curiae to assist it on the issue.

The bench also asked Deputy Solicitor General of India Gadi Praveen Kumar to take instructions from the Central government in this regard, querying whether there was a plan to enhance the limitation period.

The bench was dealing with two petitions challenging the Motor Vehicle
(Amendment) Act of 2019, which contended that the amendment was arbitrary, illegal, unconstitutional, biased and against public policy, as well as victim rights. Further, petitioners contended that it violated Articles 14 and 19 of the Indian Constitution.

Upon being informed by senior counsel Kuriti Bhaskar Rao, who was
representing one of the petitioners, that a boy had died and the parents took time to recover from accident wounds and trauma, Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said that it would take a family more than a year to recover from the anguish of losing a member in a traumatic incident.

“How could a family, which was in a condition of deep sadness, run for claim immediately after losing their dear ones?” the Chief Justice observed.

The Deputy Solicitor General assured the court that he would inform the Union ministry of the situation, following which the case was adjourned to February 2.