The Supreme Court will examine whether or not Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) can award any costs as incidental to its power over the parties or the subject matter of the litigation (ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company v. MD Devasia)..A three-judge Bench headed by Justice NV Ramana on Thursday agreed to rule upon this legal issue while hearing an appeal against a judgment of Kerala High Court. .The Bench which also comprised Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose decided to settle the issue after counsel for the petitioner stated that the MACT does not possess any authority to award any costs since it has been constituted under a special enactment and is to be governed solely by the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988..The petitioner's lawyer also adverted to an observation made by Kerala High Court in this regard on whether in the matter of awarding costs, the procedure and rules framed under the Constitution and Code of Civil Procedure for 'courts’ could be resorted to by the MACT which is not a 'court’.."In view of the aforesaid, only to the limited extent of examining the legal issue raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, we are inclined to entertain these special leave petitions," the Supreme Court said..The Court also appointed advocate N Vijayaraghavan as Amcius Curiae to assist the Court. .The apex court, however, refused to interfere with the High Court's findings on facts. .The matter will be heard on a non-miscellaneous day after eight weeks. .[Read Order]
The Supreme Court will examine whether or not Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) can award any costs as incidental to its power over the parties or the subject matter of the litigation (ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company v. MD Devasia)..A three-judge Bench headed by Justice NV Ramana on Thursday agreed to rule upon this legal issue while hearing an appeal against a judgment of Kerala High Court. .The Bench which also comprised Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose decided to settle the issue after counsel for the petitioner stated that the MACT does not possess any authority to award any costs since it has been constituted under a special enactment and is to be governed solely by the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988..The petitioner's lawyer also adverted to an observation made by Kerala High Court in this regard on whether in the matter of awarding costs, the procedure and rules framed under the Constitution and Code of Civil Procedure for 'courts’ could be resorted to by the MACT which is not a 'court’.."In view of the aforesaid, only to the limited extent of examining the legal issue raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, we are inclined to entertain these special leave petitions," the Supreme Court said..The Court also appointed advocate N Vijayaraghavan as Amcius Curiae to assist the Court. .The apex court, however, refused to interfere with the High Court's findings on facts. .The matter will be heard on a non-miscellaneous day after eight weeks. .[Read Order]