The Division Bench of Supreme Court consisting of Justices M.R. Shah and Sanjiv Khanna opined to have the response from the Ministry of Transport, Government of India to have their suggestions for remedial and preventive measures for curbing the menace of filing of false/fraud claim petitions in Uttar Pradesh for getting compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act as well as under the Workmen Compensation Act. They accordingly directed the Registry to implead the Ministry of Transport, Government of India as a party-respondent and issue notice.
Facts
The Special Investigating Team (SIT) filed a Status Report with respect to complaints filed/enquiry completed, the names of the accused, where the criminal complaints are filed and in which criminal cases the charge sheets have been filed. A separate sheet containing the names of advocates against whom the prima facie cases of cognizable offences have been found, was also filed in a separate sealed cover. It is stated in the Status Report that total 1376 cases of suspicious claims from various Districts in the State of U.P. have been received so far by the SIT.
Contents of the Report
It was stated in the Report that:
- Out of total 1376 cases of suspicious claims received by the SIT, after completing enquiry of 247 cases of suspicious claims till date, total 198 accused persons have been prima facie found guilty of cognizable offence and accordingly total 92 criminal cases have been registered in various districts.
- Against some of the accused persons, more than criminal cases have been registered. It is stated that enquiry of remaining cases of suspicious claims is underway.
- Out of total criminal cases registered so far, investigation of 36 criminal cases have been completed and charge sheets against accused persons have been filed in 32 criminal cases and final reports in 4 criminal cases have been forwarded to the concerned Criminal Court.
- Total 92 criminal cases in various Districts have been registered till date, of which, 28 advocates have been named as accused persons in 55 cases. Charge sheets against 11 advocates in 25 cases have been forwarded to the concerned trial Court till date.
- Headquarter of the SIT is situated in Lucknow. Officers/employees must go in the districts of the entire State and sometimes must go in other States outside the State of Uttar Pradesh for conducting enquiry/investigation proceedings as and when so warranted. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, there was a lockdown and termination of transportation services in the State and even some of the officers/employees have been got infected, enquiry/investigation process was adversely affected.
- On getting the situation normal after completion of lockdown of Corona period, full attempts are being made to start this enquiry/investigation process speedily.
Contentions made
Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the SIT submitted that as the respective insurance companies are not ready to being complainants in the FIR, the investigating officer of the SIT must become the complainant and therefore also it takes some time. Investigating Officer of SIT has also filed a short note on modus operandi in instituting fake compensation petitions, which are based on rich experience during investigation/enquiry of the Criminal Cases/FIRs/Complaints.
Counsel appearing on behalf of the two insurance companies submitted that despite various directions issued by this Court as well as the various High Courts, there is non-adherence to the provisions of Section 158(6) (pre 2019 amendment) and Section 159 (post 2019 amendment) of the Motor Vehicles Act. Reliance was placed on the cases of General Insurance Council vs State of Andhra Pradesh (2007), General Insurance Council vs State of Andhra Pradesh (2010), Jai Prakash vs National Insurance Company Ltd., and recent decision of this Court dated 16.03.2021.
If the earlier directions in the aforesaid decisions are implemented fully and in letter and spirit and Section 159 of the Motor Vehicles Act is complied with by all the Police Officers pan India and the accident information report as contemplated u/s 159 (post 2019 amendment) is out on the Government Portal – National Register of vehicle registration known as “VAHAN” AND “SAARTHI”, in that case, it can solve the problem of filing more than one claims in different States with respect to the same accident. SITs are required to be constituted in each of the States with adequate infrastructure and human resource.
A response affidavit was filed on behalf of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, wherein it was stated that the Chairman and the Member Secretary of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh have assumed their office after being elected on 06.07.2021. They have tendered unqualified and unconditionally apology for any act/s or omission/s on their part, which is neither deliberate nor intentional.
The Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh also ensured that the errant advocates who were indulged in such activities of filing fake claim cases, in an unethical manner, shall be dealt with appropriately as per law. It shall adhere with the directions of this Court in letter and spirit and will also ensure to conclude the disciplinary proceedings in the specified time. It was also stated that pursuant to the earlier directions issued by this Court, directing the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to file a detailed report and steps taken, the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh has taken certain actions as stated in this Judgment.
Observations of the Court and Judgment
Having heard the learned counsels on both the sides, and on perusal of the previous decisions, the Bench requested Shri K.M. Nataraj, learned Additional Solicitor General of India to appear on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, Government of India and to assist the Court and to come out with suggestions how to curb the menace of filing false/fake claim petitions. After getting the response/suggestions, the Bench may issue further directions to be applied pan India. It was put up for further consideration on 25.01.2022.
Case Name: Safiq Ahmad vs ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd. & Ors.
Citation: Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 1110 of 2017
Bench: Justice M.R. Shah, Justice Sanjiv Khanna
Decided on: 16th December 2021
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