Claim U/s 163A Of MV Act Not Maintainable Against Owner/Insurer Without Third-Party Involvement When Injured Was Driving The Vehicle: Madras HC

In a pertinent judgment, Madras High Court has underscored that the deceased/ injured in a motor accident claim must be a third party to maintain a claim under Section 163A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Asha noted that an application under Section 163A of the Act against the Insurance Company of the vehicle driven by the injured/ deceased himself/herself/themselves is liable to be dismissed by relying on Ramkhiladi & Anr v. The United India Insurance Company & Anr.. Asha noted in the judgment as follows: " The tenor and purport of the above Judgment is the principle of 'No Fault Liability" obviously implies that the injury or death or the claimant is the result of the involvement of a third party with the claimant being an innocent by stander and the accident has occurred out of no fault of his own" The court concluded that the claimant is not required to establish that the death or permanent disablement in respect of which the claim has been made was due to negligence of the owners of the vehicle or the vehicles concerned or any other person but not so when the claimant himself was driving the borrowed vehicle that was insured. Arguments & Court's Observations Before examining the case on its merits, Justice PT Asha elaborately traced the History of inducting Section 140 and Section 163A in the Motor Vehicles Act. The court also added that the judgment has not placed any bar on the legal representative or heirs of a victim to claim compensation under Section 163 A: ".It only states that in order to claim compensation under Section 163A, a claim cannot be made if the victim himself is the owner of the vehicle which has caused the accident without any third-party intervention."