Diocese Not Entitled To Claim Compensation For Death Of Deceased Priest: Kerala HC Sets Aside MACT Award

The appeal in the present matter arose out of a petition filed under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act claiming compensation in respect of the death of Father Tom Kalathil in a road traffic accident.

The Single-Judge Bench of Justice C.Pratheep Kumar held, “In other words, the impugned award passed by the Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal-II, Thodupuzha, awarding compensation to the petitioner is liable to be set aside by allowing this appeal.”

Advocate VPK. Panicker represented the Appellant while Advocate S. Sachithananda Pai represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The incident dates back to the year 2013 when a lorry driven by the first respondent in a rash and negligent manner, hit on the motorbike driven by one Fr. Tom Kalathil. As a result of this accident, he sustained serious injuries and died on the same day. The second respondent is the owner of the lorry and the third respondent is its insurer.

The OP was filed by Fr. Mathew Paikada, Provincial, St.Joseph Capuchin, Provincialate. In the petition, it was claimed that he had filed the OP for and on behalf of the Provincialate as the deceased was a member of the Provincialate. In the OP he claimed a compensation of Rs.12 Lakh. The respondent-Insurance Company disputed the maintainability of the petition and alleged that the accident occurred due to the negligence of the deceased. The Tribunal passed the impugned award, allowing a compensation of Rs13,19,000. Being aggrieved by the above Award, the third respondent preferred this appeal.

Issue

The issues raised in this matter were whether the petitioner has locus standi to file the petition and whether the Diocese is entitled to claim compensation for the death of the deceased priest.

Reasoning

Reference was made to the judgment of the Kerala High Court in Catholic Diocese, Muvattupuzha and Others v. Muthaiah P and Another (2019) wherein it was observed that the siblings of the deceased priest alone can be regarded as his legal representatives for raising the claim for compensation. It was also noticed by the Bench that in Msgr Xavier Chullickal v. C.G.Raphael (2017), the High Court had held that a Christian Priest is governed by the Indian Succession Act 1925 and he can receive and alienate property in his name.

“In the light of the above discussions, it is to be held that the Diocese is not entitled to claim compensation for the death of a deceased priest. Therefore, the present OP filed by the petitioner on behalf of the Provincialate is not maintainable and it is liable to be dismissed”, the Bench held.

Thus, allowing the appeal, the Bench set aside the impugned award of the Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

Cause Title: The New India Assurance Co. Ltd v. Fr. Mathew Paikada (Neutral Citation: 2025:KER:3544)

Appearance:

Appellants: Advocate VPK. Panicker

Respondents: Advocate S. Sachithananda Pai

Click here to read/download Order