Jaipur: A single-judge bench of Rajasthan high court quashed compensation awards paid a second time to dependants of a person killed in an accident and two others injured in another road accident, holding that pursuing dual claims for the same accident was a manifest abuse of process of law.While allowing civil appeals filed by National Insurance Company Ltd, Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand, in the judgment on Jan 28, said that under Section 167 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a claimant must make an election of remedies and cannot claim compensation both under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, for the same incident.Both cases stemmed from separate road accidents. In the first accident on April 21, 2009, one Jagdish Raiger was killed, and his dependants — Manju Bai, Kumari Kisna and Lakki — were awarded Rs 4.44 lakh by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Bundi.In the second case involving an accident on Jan 29, 2003, several persons, including Kamli Devi, Leelaram, Dholaram, Kumari China and Kumari Krishna, were injured. The MACT, Jaipur City awarded them Rs 4.43 lakh.Despite receiving these awards under the Motor Vehicles Act, the claimants in both cases later filed separate compensation petitions under the Workmen’s Compensation Act before the Workmen’s Compensation Commissioners at Bundi and Jaipur, which were allowed, granting additional compensation of Rs 4.11 lakh and Rs 2.95 lakh, respectively, with interest.The court directed the claimants to refund the amounts received under the Workmen’s Compensation Act to National Insurance Company Ltd forthwith, with usual interest, dismissing the notion that compensation from one forum could be “adjusted” against that of another.
