Gujarat High Court
Owner Of St No Gj 18 Y 1825 vs Late Rasidaben Makbulbhai Sumara ... on 8 October, 2021
Bench: A.G.Uraizee
C/FA/2956/2021 ORDER DATED: 08/10/2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 2956 of 2021
With
CIVIL APPLICATION (FOR STAY) NO. 1 of 2019
In
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 2956 of 2021
================================================================
OWNER OF ST NO GJ 18 Y 1825
Versus
LATE RASIDABEN MAKBULBHAI SUMARA HER LH
==============================================================================
Appearance:
MR HS MUNSHAW(495) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
for the Defendant(s) No. 1,2,3,4
MR ANKIT SHAH(6371) for the Defendant(s) No. 1.1,1.2
MR MAULIK J SHELAT(2500) for the Defendant(s) No. 5
================================================================
CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.G.URAIZEE
Date : 08/10/2021
ORAL ORDER
1. In this appeal under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles
Act, 1988 (for short 'the MV Act') the judgment and
award dated 31.08.2018 rendered in MACP No. 173 of
2013 and allied matters by the M.A.C. Tribunal (Main)
Patan, awarding the specified compensation to the
opponents in the applications preferred under Section 166
of the MV Act is sought to be assailed on the various
grounds.
2. Having considered the rival submissions, it appears that
without entering into the detailed merits of the case, the
matters are required to be remanded to the Tribunal below
on the ground that no effective award can be said to have
been passed against the S.T. Corporation which is a body
corporate constituted under the relevant Act; with the title
"Owner of S.T.No.GJ-18/Y-1825 Through Secretary, C/O,
Senior Depot Manager S.T., Gandhinagar Depot,
Gandhinagar" inasmuch as the corporate body was
required to be joined by its corporate as contemplated
under Sections 3 and 4 of the Road Transport Corporation
Act.
C/FA/2956/2021 ORDER DATED: 08/10/2021
3. It would be worthwhile to refer to Sections 3, 4 and 5
of the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950, which inter
alia provides institution of the proceedings against the
corporation to be in its corporate name. Since the
proceedings herein having not been instituted in terms of
the said provisions, the award therein cannot be said to
have been validly passed. Only on the said ground the
award deserves to be quashed and set aside and the
matters are required to be remanded to the Tribunal.
4. Learned counsel Mr. Shelat for the Insurance Company
would contend that the Tribunal had exonerated the
Insurance Company by assigning cogent reason and such
exoneration should be retained while remanding the
matters.
5. Learned counsel Mr.Shah appearing for the claimants
submitted that the findings rendered by the Tribunal in
favour of the claimants should be retained. In his
submission only because of the typographical error in the
M.A.C. Petitions the claimants cannot be made to suffer by
indulging into the trial once again. It is also contended
that the S.T. Corporation did not raise any objection in
the Tribunal when it was joined with the title above
referred.
6. To answer the rival submissions it would be apt to
reproduce the Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Road Transport
Corporation Act, 1950:
"3. Establishment of Road Transport Corporations in
the States.- The State Government, having regard to-
(a) the advantages offered to the public, trade and
industry by the development of road transport;
(b) the desirability of co-ordinating any form of road
transport with any other form of transport;
(c) the desirability of extending and improving the
C/FA/2956/2021 ORDER DATED: 08/10/2021
facilities for road transport in any area and of
providing an efficient and economical system of road
transport service therein;
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish
a Road Transport Corporation for the whole or any
part of the State under such name as may be
specified in the notification.
4. Incorporation.- Every Corporation shall be a body
corporate by the name notified under section 3
having perpetual succession and a common seal and
shall by the said name sue and be sued.
5. Management of Corporation and Board of
Directors.- (1) The general superintendence, direction
and management of the affairs and business of a
Corporation shall vest in a Board of Directors which,
with the assistance of its committees and Managing
Director, may exercise all such powers and. do all
such acts and things as may be exercised or done by
the Corporation.
(2) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and such
other Directors, being not less than five and not
more than seventeen, as the State Government may
think fit to appoint.
(3) The State Government may, if it so thinks fit,
appoint one of the other Directors as the Vice-
Chairman of the Board.
(4) Rules made under this Act shall provide for the
representation, both of the Central Government and
of the State Government concerned, on the Board in
such proportion as may be agreed to by both the
Governments and of appointment by each
Government of its own representatives thereto and
where the capital of a Corporation is raised by the
issue of shares to other parties under sub-section
(3)of section 23, provision shall also be made for the
representation of such shareholders on the Board and
C/FA/2956/2021 ORDER DATED: 08/10/2021
the manner in which the representatives shall be
elected by such shareholders.
(5) The term of office of and the manner of filling
casual vacancies among the Directors shall be such
as may be prescribed.]"
7. It would appear from the conjoint reading of the
provisions that S.T. Corporation would be established only
by such name as published in Official Gazette and after
such publication it would be a body corporate with
perpetual succession and a common seal, and it can sue
and can be sued with the said gazetted name. The control
of the corporation vests in the management of corporation
and Board of Directors which may be exercised inter alia
through various committees.
8. It is not in dispute that the name quoted in the cause
title of the petitions is not the name gazetted under
Section 3 of the Act. Therefore, the proceedings are
required to be treated as if the corporation was not joined
in the proceedings at all and in absence of joinder of the
owner of the vehicle, it is settled law that the proceedings
under the MV Act would not be maintainable.
9. For the foregoing reasons, the appeal as well as cross
objection are partly allowed. The impugned judgment and
award is hereby quashed and set aside and the matter is
remitted to the tribunal for fresh consideration in light of
the observations made hereinabove as expeditiously as
possible.
10. Immediately after remand of the matters the
claimants shall seek permission of the Tribunal to amend
the cause title of the petitions, more particularly in
relation to the title of the appellant herein.
C/FA/2956/2021 ORDER DATED: 08/10/2021
11. After the amendment is carried out, all endeavours
should be made by the Tribunal with the co-operation of
the parties to conclude the hearing of the case within four
months from the date of receipt of writ of this order.
12. It will be open for the parties to adduce the evidence
as may be advised to them.
13. In view of the order passed in the appeals, no orders
on the Civil Applications.
(A.G.URAIZEE, J)
Manoj
