Delhi High Court

Sobat Singh vs Ramesh Chandra Gupta & Anr. on 23 February, 2010

Author: J.R. Midha

20
*IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                      +   MAC.APP.No.422/2009

                               Date of Decision: 23rd February, 2010
%

      SOBAT SINGH                        ..... Appellant
               Through:          Mr. Kishan Nautiyal, Advocate.

                      versus

      RAMESH CHANDRA GUPTA & ANR.      ..... Respondents
              Through: Mr. Atul Nanda, Ms. Rameeza,
                       Mr.Sumeer and Ms. Sugandha,
                       Advocates for Bajaj Allianz General
                       Insurance Co. Ltd. with Mr. Sanjay
                       Gupta, Manager.
                       Mr. Atul Nanda, Ms. Rameeza,
                       Mr.Sumeer and Ms. Sugandha,
                       Advocates for ICICI Lombard General
                       Insurance Co. Ltd. with Mr.Gaurab
                       Gaba, Manager.
                       Ms. Manjusha Wadhwa and Ms. Harsh
                       Lata, Advocates for Oriental Insurance
                       Company Limited.
                       Ms. Anjali Bansal, Advocate for Tata
                       AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., Bharti
                       AXA General Insurance Co. Ltd. and
                       Future Generali India Insurance Co.
                       Ltd.
                       Mr. Sunil Kapoor and Mr. Anuraj
                       Sharma, Advocates for HDFC ERGO
                       General Insurance Co. Ltd.
                       Mr. S.L. Gupta, Advocate for National
                       Insurance Company with Mr. Santosh
                       K. Sood, Manager, DRO-I and Mr. N.
                       Wadhwan, Asst. Manager, DRO-II.
                       Ms. Adarsh Sabharwal, Adv. for
                       Raheja QBE General Insurance Co.
                       Ltd.
                       Ms. Shantha Devi Raman with Mr.
                       Amit Maihen, Advocates for IFFCO
                       Tokyo General Insurance Co. Ltd.
                       Mr.Pankaj Seth, Advocate for Reliance
                       General Insurance Co. Ltd., Universal
                       Sompo General Insurance co. Ltd. and
                       Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance
                       Co.Ltd.
                       Mr. Kanwal Choudahary, Adv. for R-2.
MAC.APP.No.422/2009                                       Page 1 of 21
                              Mr. K.L. Nandwani, Advocate for United
                             Insurance Company with Mr. Harish
                             Choudhary, Deputy Manager and Mr.
                             Sanjeev Negi, Admn. Officer.
                             Mr. O.P. Mannie, Amicus Curiae.
                             Ms. Suman Bagga, Advocate for
                             Cholamandalam MS General Insurance
                             Co. Ltd.

CORAM :-
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.R. MIDHA

1.      Whether Reporters of Local papers may             YES
        be allowed to see the Judgment?

2.      To be referred to the Reporter or not?            YES

3.      Whether the judgment should be                    YES
        reported in the Digest?

                       JUDGMENT (Oral)

1. In terms of order dated 27th January, 2010, the

following Claims Tribunals have submitted their interim

reports:-

(i) Report of MACT (Central) The MACT (Central) has submitted the interim

report and has sought two months time to furnish the

complete information. In the interim report, it is stated

that 2092 cheques are pending with the Nazir out of

which 2020 cheques have lapsed. The table containing

the details of 242 cases has been furnished but in all

the cases, neither the Insurance Companies nor the

Claims Tribunal have given notice of deposit of the

award amount to the claimants. The Claims Tribunal

has not calculated the period and amount of interest.

The recovery has been effected by attachment of bank

accounts of the Insurance companies in six cases. The

directions of this Court in the case of New India

Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal, 2007

ACJ 688 with respect to the cost of Rs.5000/- have not

been followed.

(ii) Report of MACT (South) The MACT (South) has submitted the interim

report and has sought one month time to furnish the

complete information. It is stated that 536 cheques

were deposited in last one year, out of which 426

cheques have been released and 110 cheques are

pending out of which 73 cheques have lapsed. The

table containing the details of 461 cases has been

furnished but in all the cases, neither the Insurance

Companies nor the Claims Tribunal have given notice of

deposit of the award amount to the claimants. The

Claims Tribunal has not calculated the period and

amount of interest. The directions of this Court in the

case of New India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs.

Kashmiri Lal (supra) have not been followed.

(iii) Report of MACT (East) The MACT (East) has reported that 99 cheques are

pending with Claims Tribunal out of which 48 cheques

have lapsed. Out of the 202 cases in the last one year,

the notice of deposit has not been given to the

claimants either by the Insurance Company or by the

Claims Tribunal. The amount of interest under Order

XXI Rule 1 during the last one year has been computed.

The directions of this Court in the case of New India

Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal (supra)

have not been followed.

(iv) Report of MACT (South-West), Dwarka

The MACT (South-West) has submitted the interim

report and has sought 15 days time to furnish the

complete information. In the interim report, it is stated

that 65 cheques are pending for release and 42

cheques have lapsed during the last year. The table

containing the details of the cases has been furnished

but in all the cases, neither the Insurance Companies

nor the Claims Tribunal have given notice of deposit of

the award amount to the claimants. The Claims

Tribunal has calculated the period and amount of

interest. The directions of this Court in the case of

New India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri

Lal (supra) have not been followed.

(v) Report of MACT (North) The MACT (North) has submitted the interim

report and has sought one month time to furnish the

complete information. It is stated that 132 cheques are

lying deposited for being released and 16 cheques have

lapsed during the last year. The table containing the

details of 331 cases has been furnished but in all the

cases, neither the Insurance Companies nor the Claims

Tribunal have given notice of deposit of the award

amount to the claimants. The Claims Tribunal has not

calculated the period and amount of interest. The

recovery has been effected by attachment of bank

accounts of the Insurance companies in four cases. The

directions of this Court in the case of New India

Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal (supra)

with respect to the cost of Rs.5,000/- have not been

followed.

(vi) Report of MACT (West) The MACT (West) has submitted the interim report

and has sought one month time to furnish the complete

information. In the interim report, it is stated that 353

cheques are lying deposited out of which 153 cheques

have lapsed. The table containing the details of the

cases has been furnished but in all the cases, neither

the Insurance Companies nor the Claims Tribunal have

given notice of deposit of the award amount to the

claimants. The Claims Tribunal has not calculated the

period and amount of interest. The directions of this

Court in the case of New India Assurance Company

Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal (supra) have not been followed.

(vii) Report of MACT (South-East) The MACT (South-East) has submitted its report in

which it is stated that 441 cheques were deposited out

of which 404 cheques have been released and 15

cheques have lapsed. The table containing the details

of the cases has been furnished but in all the cases,

neither the Insurance Companies nor the Claims

Tribunal have given notice of deposit of the award

amount to the claimants. The Claims Tribunal has

calculated the period and amount of interest. With

respect to the directions of this Court in the case of

New India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri

Lal (supra), it is reported that cost of Rs.5000/- has

been imposed in three cases.

(viii) Report of MACT (North-East) The MACT (North-East) has submitted the report

in which it is stated that 40 cheques are lying deposited

for being released and 115 cheques have lapsed during

the last year. The table containing the details of 284

cases has been furnished but in all the cases neither

the Insurance Companies nor the Claims Tribunal have

given notice of deposit of the award amount to the

claimants. The Claims Tribunal has not calculated the

period and amount of interest. The directions of this

Court in the case of New India Assurance Company

Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal (supra) have not been followed.

(ix) Report of MACT (North-West)

The MACT (North-West) has submitted its report

and stated that cheques are pending for being released

in 56 cases and 70 cheques have lapsed during last

year. The table containing the details of 135 cases has

been furnished but no information regarding notice of

deposit of the award amount to the claimants has been

given. The Claims Tribunal has not calculated the

period and amount of interest. The directions of this

Court in the case of New India Assurance Company

Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal (supra) have not been followed.

(x) Report of MACT (Outer) The MACT (Outer) has submitted its report and

stated that 55 cheques are pending for release and 33

cheques have lapsed during the last year. The table

containing the details of the cases has been furnished

but in all the cases, neither the Insurance Companies

nor the Claims Tribunal have given notice of deposit of

the award amount to the claimants. The Claims

Tribunal has not calculated the period and amount of

interest. The recovery has been effected by attachment

of bank accounts of the Insurance companies in two

cases. The directions of this Court in the case of New

India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal

(supra) have not been followed.

(xi) Report of ASJ, Fast Track Court (West)

The ASJ, Fast Track Court (West) has submitted its

report and stated that 4 cheques are pending for being

released and no cheque has lapsed. The table

containing the details of 20 cases has been furnished

but in all the cases neither the Insurance Company nor

the Court have given notice of deposit of the award

amount to the claimants. The Court has calculated the

period and amount of interest.

2. The Presiding Officer, MACT-New Delhi has not cared to

submit the report. A reminder be sent through the Registrar

(Appellate) of this Court. The reports of MACT (East), MACT

(South-West), MACT (South East) and ASJ, Fast Track Court

are complete. All other Claims Tribunals are directed to

submit their complete report through Registrar (Appellate)

within four weeks. The Claims Tribunals shall also calculate

the interest up to the date of release of the award amount to

the claimant. The Additional District Judges/Additional

Sessions Judges handling MACT cases are also directed to

send their report in compliance of the order dated 27 th

January, 2010 within four weeks. The Reports of the Claims

Tribunals be submitted before the Registrar (Appellate) and

be placed on record along with the comments of the

Registrar (Vigilance).

All the Claims Tribunals are also directed to prepare the

separate lists for each Insurance company and the interest

amount of each Insurance company shall be calculated. The

list be prepared separately for two periods first from 1 st

January, 2009 to 12th July, 2009 and the second from the

period 13th July, 2009 till date. The aforesaid lists be

submitted before this Court within four weeks through

Registrar (Appellate) of this Court.

3. Ms. Anjali Bansal, Advocate has filed the status reports

on behalf of Tata AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd. and Bharti

AXA General Insurance Co. Ltd., which are taken on record.

Tata AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd. has filed the data of all

the awards passed in the last one year. It is stated that in all

the cases, the claimants have been informed about the

deposit of the award amount simultaneously upon the

deposit. Bharti AXA General Insurance has stated in their

affidavit that no award has been passed against them in NCR

of Delhi in the last one year but the company shall follow

Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure. With respect

to the Future Generali Insurance Co. Ltd., Ms. Bansal submits

that one award was passed in respect of which cheque

deposited with the Claims Tribunal was cleared within one

month and the Company agrees to follow Order XXI Rule 1 of

the Code of Civil Procedure.

4. Mr. Sunil Kapoor, counsel for HDFC ERGO General

Insurance Co. Ltd. submits that the Company had been

intimating the Counsel for the claimants while depositing the

award amount. Mr. Kapoor submits that the Company agrees

to follow Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure

while depositing the award amount in future. Mr. Kapoor

further submits that the aforesaid Insurance company is

prepared to give notice of deposit to the claimants' counsel,

which should be taken as sufficient compliance of the

provisions of Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

5. Mr. S.L. Gupta on behalf of National Insurance Co. Ltd.

submits that he has instructions to state that National

Insurance Co. Ltd. shall comply with the provisions of Order

XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure while depositing the

award amount in future. However, with respect to the

affidavit to be filed in terms of order dated 27 th January,

2010, Mr. Gupta seeks two weeks time to file the affidavit

before this Court. Mr. Gupta submits that National Insurance

Co. Ltd. is prepared to serve the notice of deposit on the

claimant's counsel under Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of

Civil Procedure. Mr. Gupta further points out that officers of

National Insurance Co. Ltd. are present in Court and the

statement has been made on their instructions.

6. Ms. Adarsh Sabharwal, Advocate submits that Raheja

QBE General Insurance Co. Ltd. is a new company and no

award has been passed against the said company till now.

The counsel further submits that she has filed an affidavit in

this regard in which it has been stated that the company

shall comply with the directions of this Court with regard to

Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

7. Mr. Pankaj Seth, Advocate for Universal Sompo General

Insurance Co. Ltd. submits that no award has been passed

against this company till now. However, the Company

agrees to comply with the Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of

Civil Procedure in future. Mr. Pankaj Seth, Advocate also

appears on behalf of Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. and

Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd. and submits that

the relevant data and affidavit in compliance of order dated

27th January, 2010 shall be filed within four weeks and the

said Insurance companies shall serve the notice of deposit on

the claimants through Court and shall pay interest up to date

of deposit.

8. Mr. Atul Nanda, learned counsel for ICICI Lombard

General Insurance Co. Ltd. and Bajaj Allianz General

Insurance Co. Ltd., vehemently argued that Order XXI Rule 1

of the Code of Civil Procedure is not at all applicable to motor

accident claim cases. The counsel further submitted that

although the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of

Rajasthan State Corporation, Jaipur Vs. Poonam

Pahwa, 1997, ACJ 1049 has held that the principle of Order

XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure is applicable to the

motor accident cases but Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of

Civil Procedure is not applicable to the motor accident claim

cases and, therefore, the Insurance companies cannot be

compelled to comply with Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of the

Civil Procedure. Mr. Nanda then referred to Section 168(3) of

the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to contend that the award

amount has to be deposited with the Claims Tribunals in

terms of their award but since the Claims Tribunals have not

passed any direction requiring the notice to be given, the

Insurance companies are not liable to give any notice of

deposit. Mr. Nanda further submitted that the default, if at

all, is on the part of the Claims Tribunals in not issuing the

notice of deposit and not on the part of the Insurance

companies. Upon the specific query of the Court as to his

stand in view of the Rules 31 and 32 of Delhi Motor Accidents

Claims Tribunal Rules, 2008, which provides that the Claims

Tribunals shall have all the powers of the Civil Court for

execution of the decree, Mr. Nanda conceded that Order XXI

Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure is applicable to motor

accident claim cases w.e.f. 13th July, 2009 when Delhi Motor

Accidents Claims Tribunal Rules, 2008 came into force. Mr.

Nanda finally admitted that he has instructions from his

clients to make a statement that in future, his clients shall

give notice of deposit to the claimants in order to streamline

the system. With respect to the compliance of the order

dated 27th January, 2010, Mr. Nanda sought clarification of

para 18 of the Order dated 27th January, 2010 where

reference has been made to the directions dated 9 th July,

1997. This Court has referred to the directions dated 9th

December, 2005 in para 18 of the order dated 27 th January,

2010 but inadvertently the date has been mentioned as 9 th

July, 1997 instead of 9th December, 2005 in the case of New

India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal, 2007

ACJ 688. The date of 9th July, 1997 in para 18 of the order

dated 27th January, 2010 is corrected and be read as 9 th

December, 2005.

9. Mr. Kanwal Choudhary on behalf of New India Insurance

Company submits that the relevant data and affidavit in

compliance of order dated 27th January, 2010 shall be filed

within four weeks. Mr. Choudhary further submits that New

India Assurance Co. Ltd. shall serve the notice on the

claimants through Court and shall pay interest up to the date

of deposit.

10. Ms. Manjusha Wadhwa on behalf of Oriental Insurance

Co. Ltd. submits that the relevant data and affidavit in

compliance of order dated 27th January, 2010 shall be filed

within four weeks.

11. Mr. K.L. Nandwani, Advocate appears on behalf of

United Insurance Co. Ltd. and submits that United India

Insurance Co. Ltd. agrees to give notice of deposit to the

claimants through Court. Mr. Harish Arora, Deputy Manager

and Mr. Sanjeev Negi, Administrative Officer submits that the

affidavit/ data shall be filed positively within four weeks.

12. Ms. Suman Bagga, Advocate on behalf of

Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd., submits that

the relevant data and affidavit in compliance of order dated

27th January,2010 shall be filed within four weeks and the

Insurance Company shall serve the notice on the claimants

through Court and shall pay interest up to date of deposit.

13. Ms. Shantha Devi Raman Advocate on behalf of IFFCO

Tokyo General Insurance Co. Ltd., submits that the relevant

data and affidavit in compliance of order dated 27 th January,

2010 shall be filed within four weeks and the Insurance

Company shall serve the notice on the claimants through

Court and shall pay interest up to date of deposit.

14. All the Insurance companies are directed to file their

status report and affidavit in terms of order dated 27th

January, 2010 within a period of four weeks with advance

copy to the learned Amicus Curiae. The General Managers of

all the Insurance companies shall remain present in Court on

the next date of hearing.

15. Section 168(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988

empowers the Claims Tribunals to direct the deposit of the

award amount in such manner as it may direct. Section

168(3) is reproduced hereunder:-

             "Section 168       Award        of   the    Claims
             Tribunal. -

             (3) When an award is made under this

section, the person who is required to pay any amount in terms of such award shall, within thirty days of the date of announcing the award by the Claims Tribunal, deposit the entire amount awarded in such manner as the Claims Tribunal may direct."

16. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Rajasthan

State Corporation, Jaipur Vs. Poonam Pahwa (Supra),

has clearly held that Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil

Procedure is applicable to Motor Accident Claims. Delhi Motor

Accidents Claims Tribunal Rules, 2008 came into force on

13th July, 2009. Rule 31 provides that the Claims Tribunals

shall have all the powers of the Civil Court in execution of a

decree under Code of Civil Procedure as if the award was a

decree passed by a Civil Court. Rule 32 further provides that

the Claims Tribunal shall exercise all the powers of the Civil

Court. Rules 31 and 32 are reproduced hereunder:-

             "31. Enforcement       of   award    of   the
             Claims Tribunal -

Subject to the provisions of section 174 of the Act, the Claims Tribunal shall, for the purpose of enforcement of its award, have all the powers of a Civil Court in the execution of a decree under the Code of Civil Procedure,1908(5 of 1908), as if the award where a decree for the payment of money passed by such court in a civil suit.

32. Vesting of powers of Civil Court in the Claims Tribunal -

Without prejudice to the provisions of section 169 of the Act every Claims Tribunal shall exercise all the powers of a Civil Court, and in doing so for discharging its functions it shall follow the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908(5 of 1908)."

17. From the interim reports of the Claims Tribunals, it is

clear that there has been gross miscarriage of justice and

grave injustice has been caused to the claimants as no notice

of deposit has been given to the claimants either by the

Insurance Companies or by the Claims Tribunals. The record

of the Nazirs have not been maintained according to the date

of the award. The Nazirs enter the cheque deposited in such

a manner that the deposit cannot be easily traced out. If a

person has to check whether the payment has been

deposited in respect of award passed on 10th January, 2009,

he has to check all the entries from 10 th January, 2009 upto

date. As a result, a large number of cheques deposited with

the Claims Tribunals have lapsed. In respect of one of the

Claims Tribunal, 2020 cheques deposited with it have

expired. No action has been taken by the Claims Tribunals in

respect of lapsed cheques. The Claims Tribunals have also

not followed the directions of this Court in the case of New

India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal, 2007

ACJ 688. It appears that the Claims Tribunals, Insurance

companies and claimants were all ignorant of the correct

legal position, but ignorance of law is no defence. The victims

of the road accidents suffer first, because of the road

accident, then, due to delay in the inquiry and thirdly, even

after passing the award, no notice of deposit is given by the

Insurance company or by the Claims Tribunal. The non-

compliance of law by the Insurance companies has caused

irreparable damage, harassment, delay and injustice to the

claimants. There is not even an iota of remorse by any

Insurance company. Though the Insurance companies have

now agreed to comply with Order XXI Rule 1 of the Code of

Civil Procedure in future but they insist to pay interest only

till date of deposit and not till notice of deposit, meaning

thereby, that even while admitting applicability of Order XXI

rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Insurance

companies are still not willing to gracefully comply with the

law. Be that as it may, in view of undertaking of the

Insurance companies to comply with Order XXI Rule 1 of the

Code of Civil Procedure read with Rules 31 and 32 of the

Delhi Motor Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 2008, the

following interim directions are issued to the Claims Tribunals

for streamlining the system:-

(i) Before or at the time of passing of the award, the Claims Tribunals shall examine the claimants to ascertain their financial condition and needs and shall pass an order with regard to their share, mode of disbursement, amount to be kept in fixed deposit and period of fixed deposit according to the financial condition of the claimants. (It has been noticed that, in many cases, the Tribunals have been passing the standard orders of disbursement and fixed deposits without examining the financial condition and needs of the claimants and the poor victims are left at the mercy of either accepting the order or again engaging the counsel to approach the Court for modification).

(ii) At the time of examining the Claimants, the Claims Tribunals shall also ascertain the complete address of the claimants as well as their counsel. In the award, the Claims Tribunals shall specifically direct the Insurance company and/or the owner/driver, as the case may be, to deposit the award amount with the Tribunal and/or the Bank along with the interest upto

the date of notice of deposit to the claimants with a copy to their counsel. The names and addresses of the claimants and their counsel for issuance of notice of deposit be mentioned in the award.

(iii) If the award amount has been directed to be deposited by the Insurance Company with the bank, copy of the award be sent to the Nodal Officer of the Bank along with the Court stamped copy of the photographs and signatures of the claimants. The photographs and signatures of the claimants be taken at the time of examining them before or at the time of passing the award. Two sets of photographs and signatures should be taken, out of which one set should be sent to the Nodal Officer of the Bank along with the copy of the award and the second set should be retained in the Court record for future reference and/or any irregularity being pointed out. (The forwarding of the Court stamped photographs and the signatures of the claimants would ensure that no attempt is made to defraud the system). If possible, the proof of residence and the details of the Bank Account should also be collected from the claimant at the time of examining them and one stamped set of the same should also be forwarded to the Bank and the second set be retained in the Court record.

(iv) The Claims Tribunal shall fix a date for reporting compliance in the award itself. The Claims Tribunals shall also direct the Insurance Company and/or driver or owner to place on record the proof of deposit of the award amount, the notice of deposit and the calculation of interest on the date fixed. Upon such proof being filed, the Claims Tribunal shall ensure that the interest upto date of notice of deposit has been deposited by all concerned.

(v) If the award amount is not deposited within the time provided in the award, the Claims Tribunals shall proceed to recover/execute the award in terms of the directions of this Court in the case of New India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal, 2007 ACJ 688.

(vi) The record of all the awards passed by the Claims Tribunals shall be maintained by the Nazirs in chronological order according to the date of the award in such a manner that it is easy for the Nazir as well as the enquiring litigants/lawyers to ascertain whether the payment of their award has been received or not. The following can be considered as a format:-

             a)       Date of award
             b)       Case number
             c)       Title of the case
             d)       Award amount
             e)       Date of deposit of the award amount
             f)       Date of notice of deposit by the depositor.
             g)       Date of notice of deposit by the Tribunal.
             h)       Amount of interest upto date of notice of
                      deposit.
             i)       Whether award amount and complete
                      interest deposited.
             j)       Balance outstanding interest.
             k)       Remarks (Action        taken    to   recover     the
                      balance interest)

      (vii) In    all   pending     execution    cases,      the   Claims

Tribunals shall follow the directions of this Court in New India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs. Kashmiri Lal (supra). The Claims Tribunals shall direct all the Insurance Companies to provide the name of Banker and their Account number within ten days.

(viii) In respect of pending cheques, the Claims Tribunal shall forthwith issue the notice of deposit to the claimants as well as their counsels.

(ix) In respect of the expired cheques, the Claims Tribunal shall also forthwith issue notice to the Insurance Companies with direction to deposit fresh cheques within 30 days.

18. The final order/directions shall be passed on the next

date of hearing after examining the final Status Reports of

the Claims Tribunals and the Insurance companies in terms

of the order dated 27th January, 2010 and after hearing all

the parties. The Claims Tribunals and all the Insurance

Companies shall submit their response to the aforesaid

interim directions and further suggestions, which shall be

considered on the next date of hearing. In the meantime, the

Claims Tribunals shall implement Rules 31 and 32 of Delhi

Motor Accident Claims Tribunal Rules, 2008 read with Order

XXI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the directions

passed by this Court in New India Assurance Company