Previously, Section 166(3) in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, laid down the following time limitation on filing of application before Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal for compensation arising out of an accident:
“(3) No application for such compensation shall be entertained unless it is made within six months of the occurrence of the accident:
Provided that the Claims Tribunal may entertain the application after the expiry of the said period of six months but not later than twelve months, if it is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from making the application in time.”
However, it is pertinent to mention that the period of limitation provided under Section 166(3) aforementioned was completely done away with, with effect from 14-11-1994, as Section 166(3) came to be deleted, from the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, by way of an amendment.
Therefore, at present there is no limitation period for filing a claim for compensation arising out of an accident.
In the case of Purohit & Co. v. Khatoonbee, (2017) 4 SCC 783, the Supreme Court while dealing with this issue held that a claim raised before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, can be considered to be genuine, so long as it is a live and surviving claim. It was held that it is not as if, it can be open to all and sundry, to approach a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, to raise a claim for compensation, at any juncture, after the accident had taken place. It was held that the individual concerned, must approach the Tribunal within a reasonable time, but the question of reasonability would naturally depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. In the above case before the Supreme Court the delay in filing claim was of 28 years and the Supreme Court held that such claim was stale and dead.
In your case, the delay is about 2 years from the date of the accident. In my considered opinion, you should be in a position to file an accident claim and this delay should not come in your way.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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