Madras HC orders Electronic Transfer of Compensation to Accident Victims [Read 23 Directions]

In a Landmark Judgment a two Judge Bench of Madras High Court has directed that the Compensation to Motor Accident victims/Claimants shall be electronically transferred to the bank accounts of the victims/claimants, as the case may be.The Division Bench comprising of Justices R.Sudhakar and S.Vaidyanathan observed that in a country where legal awareness is wanting despite best efforts by the Legal Services Authority and other legal forums, the victims/dependants are unable to realize the fruit of judicial decisions granting “just compensation” for years together.Justice Sudhakar who wrote the concurrent Judgment held that;“There is a mandate on the Claims Tribunal to deposit the award amount in a Nationalised Bank. Payment out is ordered and cheques are issued to the victims/claimants. These cheques pass through various sieves known and unknown and ultimately, it does not reach the victims/claimants in full measure, less legal expenses and other costs that are justifiable. It was brought to our notice by the Chief Judge, Court of Small Causes and the Registry that in the present system, the insurance companies deposits the cheques with the Claims Tribunal concerned, which in turn deposits the same with the Treasury, and thereafter, it is transferred from the Treasury to a Nationalised Bank by way of fixed deposit. It is thereafter withdrawn for the purpose of settling the award amount. This process consumes a lot of time and leads to delay in disbursal of the award amount. It was stated that this leads to unwanted heartburns at certain quarters and the benefit of the award does not reach the claimants/victims directly in full proportion. The delay in this process, it is stated, is felt more in the Districts. We, inter alia, seek to address the said issue also by way of these directions.”“The above said difficulty can be mitigated if the victims/claimants are called upon to furnish bank account and PAN Card details, if available, so as to ensure that the compensation is deposited in the existing bank accounts of the victims/claimants in their own territory. It also has another advantage, whereby the compensation awarded can be transferred to the bank account of the victims/claimants through the presently available computerized system, namely, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) or National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), which is slowly becoming very popular for transfer of funds throughout the country. These methods could be used for transfer of the funds to the Claims Tribunals in relation to the cases in question and thereafter by Direct Benefit or Bank Transfer (DBT) the funds can be electronically transferred to the bank accounts of the victims/claimants, as the case may be.”Considering all the above factors, with the intention to safeguard the interest of the victims/claimants and to ensure that the victims/claimants get full compensation, less the legal costs, certain directions need be issued to the Tribunals to scrupulously follow.The following directions are issued for the benefit of the victims/claimants;(i) The Claims Tribunals shall without exception, at the time of commencement of trial and evidence on the side of claimants, obtain and ensure that the bank account details of all the claimants as follows:1Name of the Claimant (s) / Victims (s) with address2Name of the Bank & Branch3Bank IFSC Code4Account No (s). of the Claimant(s) / victim (s)The first page of the bank pass-book, which will compulsorily contain the photograph of the claimant(s)/victim(s), duly attested by the Bank concerned, should be made available. Wherever the claimant(s)/victim(s) are impleaded as respondents, before the claims tribunal or the Court, their account details, as above, will have to be furnished.(ii) In case after disclosure of the bank account details before the Claims Tribunal in terms of Clause (i), a new person is added in the account for any reason whatsoever, it is incumbent on the part of the claimant/victim to disclose the same to the Claims Tribunal, indicating the relationship of the newly added person to the claimant/victim and the purpose.(iii)The Claims Tribunals shall also obtain and ensure the marking of Pan Card of all the claimants, wherever available.(iv)If the claimant/victim does not have a Pan Card, the Claims Tribunal shall endeavour to advise the claimant/victim about the importance of having such a card, namely, to avoid higher Tax Deduction at Source, for their own benefit, before conclusion of trial. For this purpose, the District Legal Services Authorities and Taluk Legal Services Authorities can facilitate and provide assistance.(v) The Claims Tribunals may verify and confirm if the claimant/ victim has an Aadhaar card, and if there is one, he/she may be called upon to mark a self attested copy of the Aadhaar Card.(vi)In case of minor claimants, their bank account details should be obtained and marked. The name of the guardian has to be specified.(vii)The Claims Tribunals shall ensure...

Madras HC orders Electronic Transfer of Compensation to Accident Victims [Read 23 Directions]

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