The Kerala High Court has held that the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal was not justified in rejecting the car owner’s applications seeking to adduce independent evidence on the issue of negligence solely on the ground that the driver of the owner’s vehicle had pleaded guilty in the connected criminal proceedings.

The petitioner had approached the High Court challenging the order of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Thrissur.

The Single Bench of Justice Mohammed Nias C.P. held, “In the present case, the petitioner sought permission to adduce independent evidence on the issue of negligence, which was declined by the Tribunal solely on the premise that the driver had pleaded guilty in the criminal proceedings. Such an approach runs contrary to the settled legal principles laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the High Courts.”

Advocate R. Nikhil represented the Petitioner, while Advocate Vinitha B. represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The original petition was instituted by the first respondent claiming compensation for the damage caused to the High Court vehicle, which was involved in a road traffic accident. The accident was alleged to have occurred in 2013. According to the claimant, while the Innova car, used as a Judges’ tour vehicle and proceeding from Ernakulam to Kannur, reached the said spot, a Toyota Corolla owned by the petitioner and driven by the third respondent, emerged from a side road at high speed and collided with the front portion of the car.

The case of the petitioner, on the other hand, was that the third respondent was travelling from Cheroor towards Ernakulam and, while crossing the road, the High Court vehicle, which was being driven rashly and at excessive speed from Ernakulam towards Kannur, collided with the rear portion of the petitioner’s vehicle. It was further asserted that the police authorities had informed the respondents that no case was registered against the third respondent. While the claim petition was pending, the petitioner filed an application seeking to summon the Scientific Assistant who conducted the sample paint comparison test, along with the report prepared in connection with the criminal proceedings seeking acceptance of the witness list, including the said expert and the respondent. The petitioner approached the High Court challenging the orders of the Tribunal, by which the interlocutory applications were dismissed.

Reasoning

The Bench, at the outset, affirmed that the proceedings before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act are civil in nature and the issue of negligence has to be adjudicated on the basis of preponderance of probabilities, independent of the outcome of criminal proceedings.

The Bench held, “The petitioner, who was not an accused in the criminal case, cannot be non-suited in the claim proceedings without being afforded a fair opportunity to contest negligence by leading evidence. The Tribunal was therefore not justified in rejecting the applications at the threshold without examining their relevance or necessity”, it added.

Allowing the original petition, the Bench set aside the impugned orders, reserving liberty to the Tribunal to consider the petitioner’s applications in accordance with law and to adjudicate the issue of negligence independently based on the evidence adduced by the parties.

Cause Title: Menon P.S. v. The Registrar General (Neutral Citation: 2026:KER:12467)

Appearance

Petitioner: Advocates Nikhil, Sajna Jaleel

Respondent: Advocate Vinitha B., SC P.K. Manojkumar

Click here to read/download Order


Kerala HCJustice Mohammed Nias C.P

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.