mca5.11 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, BENCH AT AURANGABAD MISC. CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 5 OF 2011 1 Rani w/o Babasaheb Kamble age 38 years, occ. household r/o Shriram Nagar, Beed Tq. & Dist. Beed. 2 Omkar s/o Babasaheb Kamble age 14 years, occ. education Minor u/g of real mother – applicant no. 1. r/o Shriram Nagar, Beed Tq. & Dist. Beed. 3 Avishkar s/o Babasaheb Kamble age 10 years, occ. education Minor u/g of real mother applicant no. 1. r/o Shriram Nagar, Beed Tq. & Dist Beed 4 Sonaji s/o Barikrao Kamble age 67 years, occ. nil r/o Shriram Nagar, Beed Tq. & Dist. Beed. 5 Sulavati w/o Sonaji Kamble age 61 years, occ. household r/o Shriram Nagar, Beed Tq. & Dist. Beed. 6 Janhavi Sonaji Kamble age 44 years, occ. household r/o Shriram Nagar, Beed Tq. & Dist. Beed. .. APPLICANTS VERSUS mca5.11 2 1 Vikas s/o Shivaji Gote age 30 years, occ owner and driver of vehicle r/o Shahu Nagar, Ward n o. 7 near Hanuman Mandir, Beed Tq. & Dist. Beed. 2 The Oriental Insurance Col. Ltd through its Branch Manager Branch office at Jalna Road Beed, Tq. & Dist. Beed. 3 Indubai alias Shubhangi w/o Babasaheb Kamble age Major, occ. labour r/o Upla, Tq. & Dist. Osmanabad. .. RESPONDENTS Mr. A.M. Gaikwad, advocate for the applicants. Mr. R.H. Jobanputra, advocate for respondent no. 2. ===== CORAM : R.M. BORDE, J. DATE : 9 th MARCH, 2011. ORAL JUDGMENT : 1 Heard. 2 Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the parties, heard finally at admission stage. mca5.11 3 3 Applicants / original claimants presented Motor Accident Claim Petition no.140/2010 before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Beed. Applicants claim compensation on account of accidental death of one Babasaheb Kamble who was the father of applicant nos. 2 and 3 and son of applicant nos. 4 and 5. Applicant no. 1, Rani, claims to be the legally wedded wife of deceased Babasaheb Kamble. Another claim petition is presented by one Indubai, being Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010, claiming her entitlement in respect of amount of compensation on account of accidental death of Babasaheb Kamble. It is claimed by Indubai that she is legally wedded wife of deceased Babasaheb Kamble and is only entitled to receive the amount of compensation. In Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010, presented by Indubai, parents of the deceased are impleaded as respondents whereas Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 140/2010 is presented by minor children of the deceased alongwith his parents and widowed sister whereas claimant no. 1 claims to be the legally wedded wife of deceased Babasaheb Kamble. Thus, it is evident that two claim petitions are presented claiming compensation on account of accidental death of deceased Babasheb by his two wives. 4 Instant application is presented by claimants in Motor Accident Claim mca5.11 4 Petition no.140/2010 seeking transfer of Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010 to Beed for hearing and disposal alongwith Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 140/2010 which is presented by them to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Beed. Section 166(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides that the application under section 166(1) of the Act shall be made at the option of the claimant either to the claim tribunal having jurisdiction over the area in which the accident occurred or to the tribunal within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the claimant resides or carries on business or to the tribunal within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the defendant resides. 5 So far as the claim in respect of accidental death of Babasaheb Kamble is concerned, there are two different claim petitions presented before two different tribunals by two wives of deceased, claiming their entitlement to receive the amount of compensation. The claim petitions claiming amount of compensation on account of accidental death of an individual cannot be permitted to be prosecuted at two different places. In these peculiar circumstances, an order is to be issued for clubbing of the motor accident claim petitions and, direction shall have to be issued for trial of the claim petitions by either of the tribunals before whom the claim mca5.11 5 petitions are presented. It is to be noted that Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 140/2010 is presented by the lady claiming herself to be the wife of deceased Babasaheb Kamble, alongwith two minor children as well as parents and widowed sister of the deceased. Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010 is presented at Osmanabad. Claimant in said petition is also joined as respondent in Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 140/2010, presented before the tribunal at Beed. So far as Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010 presented before the tribunal at Osmanabad is concerned, the second wife and her minor children as well as widowed sister of deceased are not impleaded as party respondents in the petition. It is stated in the claim petition itself that the claimant is deserted wife of deceased and was not residing with the deceased since many years prior to occurrence of the accident. Considering the claims raised by two different parties before two different tribunals, I am of the view that the claim petition being Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010, presented by the only wife claiming herself to be the legally wedded wife of deceased, shall be transferred to Beed with direction that both the petitions i.e. Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 140/2010 presented at Beed and Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010 presented at Osmanabad be tried by the tribunal at Beed. Directions are issued for transfer of claim petition presented at mca5.11 6 Osmanabad to the tribunal at Beed for the reason that the claim petition presented at Beed is presented by minor children, parents as well as widowed sister of deceased alongwith the lady by name Rani, claiming herself to be the wife of deceased. Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Beed shall proceed to decide both the claim petitions together and pass appropriate orders after following the procedure prescribed under law. It would be open for the tribunal at Beed to decide entitlement of both the ladies i.e. claimant no. 1 in Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 140/2010 and the claimant in Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010, to claim the amount of compensation. Hence the following order : ORDER 1 Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010 presented to the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Osmanabad shall be transferred to Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Beed. 2 Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Beed shall take up both the claim petitions i.e. Motor Accident Claim Petition 140/2010 presented at Beed and Motor Accident Claim mca5.11 7 Petition no. 185/2010 presented at Osmanabad, together for consideration and shall proceed to decide the claim petitions after following the procedure prescribed under law. 3 It would be open for the tribunal to consider the question of entitlement of claimant no. 1 in Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 140/2010 and the claimant in Motor Accident Claim Petition no. 185/2010, to receive compensation on account of accidental death of deceased Babasaheb Kamble. 6 Misc. civil application is accordingly allowed. Rule made absolutely. In the facts and circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to costs. ( R. M. BORDE ) JUDGE dyb