LexCONCORD OF INDIA INSURANCE CO. L1D. versus NIRMALA DEVI AND ORS.
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A B c D E F G 694 .. CONCORD OF INDIA INSURANCE CO. L1D. v. NIRMALA DEVI AND ORS. April 16, 1979 [V. R. KRISHNA IYER AND R. S. PATHAK, JJ.] Negligence of Counsel which misleads a litigant into delayed pursuit of his.- remedy-Propriety ·and reasonableness of cofnpanies and other persons re- lying upon legal opinion in the niatter of co1nputation of liniitation--Lirni-· tation Act, 1963 (Act XXXVl) Section 5. Need for no fault tortious liability by State-LeKal rights, literacy in the· case of automobile, accidents and the processual 1nodalities which secure· redressal of grievances, explained. , A doctor and his brother riding a motor cycle were hit by a jeep driver· ..,, and both \\'ere killed in November 1971, but the Motor Accident claims Tri·· bunal delivered judgment on 5·9· 1976 five years later awarding sums of Rs. 80,000/- and Rs. 73,500 ;- to the two sets of claimants. The appeal in this case had to be filed on or before 19-1-77 but was. actually filed 30 days later ·with an application for condonation under S. 5 of the Limitation Act on the ground of Counsel's mistake in the calculation- of the period of limitation. The High Court dismissed the appeal and the~ application. Dismissing the special leave petitions, the Court HELD : A company relies on its Legal Adviser and the Manager's. expertise is in company management and not in law. There is no particular reason why when a company or other person retains a lawyer to advise it or him on legal affairs reliance should not be placed on such counse1. Of course, if there is gross delay too patent even for layman or if there is i.tL comprehensible indifference the shield of legal opinion may still be .vulnerable. If legal Adviser's opinions are to be subjected by company managers to. further legal scrutiny of their own, an impossible situation may arise. Inde_ed Government, a large litigant in this country, may find itself in difficulty •. [697E·F. 698 F-Gl This does not automatically secure a visa for the petitioner into this )C Court under Art. 136.. There musf be manifest injustice or gross misappre- ciation or perversity in factual findings. [698H] ,.-· State of Kerala v. Krishna Kurup Madhava Kurup, A.I.R. 1971 Keralai 211; approved. State of West Bengal v. Howrah Z..funicipal Corporation, AIR 1972 SC.- 749; referred to. Obser;ations 1~ The jurispfudence of compensation for· motor accidentS IDus't develop· in. the· direction, of no-fault liability and the determination of the quantum !DU$\ be liberal, not niggardly since the law values life and limb in 'a 'freet • • • CONCORD INSURANCE co. v. NIRMALA DEVI (Krishna Iyer, !.) 695 country in generous scales. Social justice, the command of the Constitution A is being violated by the State itself by neglecting road repairs, ignoring deadly over-loads and contesting liability after nationalising the bulk of bus transport and the whole of general insurMtce business. [696C·Dl 2. Medieval roads \\'ith treacherous dangers and total disrepair, explosive increase of heavy vehicles often terribly overloaded and without cautionary signals, reckless drivers crazy with speed and tipsy with spirituous potions, non-enforcement of traffic regulations_ designed for safety but offering oppor- tunities for systematised corruption and little else and, as a cumulative effect, mounting high\vay accidents, demand a new dimension to the law of torts through no fault liability and processual celerity and simplicity in compensa- tion claims caseo. [696B-C] 3. If only no-fault liability, automatic reporting by the police who investi- gate the accident in a statutory pro-forma signed by the claimants and forward- ed to the tribunal as in Tamil Nadu and decentralised empowerment of such tribunals in every district coupled with informal procedures and liberation from court-fees and the sophisticated rules of evidence and burden of proof \'\it:re introduced-easy and inexpensive, if the State has the will to help the poor who mostly die in such accidents-law's. delays in this compassionate jurisdiction can be banished. Social justice in action is the measure of the State's constitutional sensitivity. [696F-G] CIVIL Al'PELLATE JURISDICTION : Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 5228 and 5286 of 1977. B c D From the Judgment and Order dated 8-8-1977 of the Pnnjab E and Haryana High Court in F.A.O. No. 81 and 82 of 1977. P. P. Malhotra and R. N. Dikshi
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