Jharkhand High Court suggests that State or insurer pay fixed sum to cover personal injuries in road accidents

The Jharkhand High Court recently called for a change in the law to ensure that the government or an insurer pays a fixed sum to compensate motor vehicle owners for personal injuries that they may suffer during road accidents. .A Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi reasoned that the government too has some amount of responsibility in road accident cases."The Government cannot elude from its limited liability in a case of accident occurring in a public road, where road tax is levied by the Government. Government can either shoulder it by itself or can fasten upon the authorised insurance company by statutorily making the company liable over and above the liability of the insured when they indemnify i.e., at the moment they are entering into an insurance contract as required under Chapter XI of the Motor Vehicles Act, they should be made statutorily liable for the welfare state liability," the judge said. .Notably, under the present law, only third-party insurance is mandatory for vehicle owners. This insurance is meant to cover injuries that may be caused to others by the motor vehicle owner during a vehicular collision. Personal insurance coverage (or insurance to cover injuries suffered by motor vehicle owners themselves) is not compulsory.The Court has now suggested that the law could be amended to introduce a mechanism wherein the government or insurer is held liable to pay a fixed sum to motor vehicle owners to cover their personal injuries."An appropriate change in the statute that will make the Government / the insurer liable for a fixed sum, as in the case of Section 140 of the Motor Vehicle Act, payable to the owner in case of injury / death is the need of the day. This aspect needs due attention and the court fervently hope and this court wish that it will gain deserving attention from the concerned department of the Government and the court request to think it over as to how the citizen on the road accident can be compensated being the welfare State," the Court said..The Court made the observation in a case where two men on a two-wheeler died after a Bolero Jeep belonging to the police ran over them.The State argued that the initial collision took place between two motor vehicles that were being driven in a rash manner. It was after the two bikes collided that the Bolero jeep ran over the injured persons. The two deceased men were identified as Amit Aind (18 years old) and Roshan Guria (20 years old).A Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal directed that their families be paid ₹3,48,880 each, along with 7.5 per cent annual interest as compensation.The State challenged the tribunal's verdict, arguing that the Bolero was not driven negligently and that the motorcycle drivers were partly at fault (contributory negligence) for the accident. Therefore, the State cannot be held fully liable to pay compensation, the High Court was told. The State also argued that the Bolero had not been insured..The Court, however, eventually upheld the tribunal's decision. It also emphasised that since the vehicle belonged to the Police, the State would be vicariously liable for the driver's actions. The Court observed that just because the vehicle was government-owned and the driver was a police employee, it would not mean the government is exempt from liability. Referring to guidelines issued on such matters by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, it noted that unless the act is shown to be a part of a sovereign function (a function that only the government can do, in respect of which it may have immunity), the State can be held liable like any ordinary employer..Advocate Sanjay Kumar Tiwari appeared for the State..[Read Order]