LexSTATE OF HARYANA versus DARSHANA DEVI & ORS.
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STATE OF HARYANA
v.
DARSHANA DEVI & ORS.
February 12, 1979
[V. R. KRISHNA IYER AND 0. CHINNAPPA REDDY, JJ.)
Civil Procedure Code, Or. XXXIII, application to accident-claims cases,
principles involved.
'fhe respondents, a. widow and her daughter, claimed con1pensation for the
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killing of their sole bread-winner, by a Haryana State Transport bus, but could
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not afford to pay any court fee on their clai,m.
The High Court held that the ___,,.,{
exemptive provisions of Order XXXIII, c·rc, will apply to Accident Claims--
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Tribunals, which have the trappings of the Civil Court.
Dis-missing the special leave petition the Court,
HELD : The Sta.te should fram'e appropriate rules to exempt from levy of
court fee, cases of claims of compensation where automobile accidents are the
cause. T\vo principles are involved. Firstly, access to court, is an integral part
of social justice, and tfre State bas no rational litigation policy if it forgets this
fundamental, and secondly, it is the State's duty under Art. 41 of the Constitu-
tion to render assistance, without litigation, in cases of disablement and un-
deserved want. [185 B-C, D, 186 C]
M. Cappelletti, Rabels Z, (1976) 669 at 672; quoted with approval.
Obiter dictum :
I. It is a public duty of each great branch of Government to obey the rule
of law and uphold the trys.t with the Constitution by making rules to effec~µat't
legislation meant to help the poor. Now that insurance against third party risk
is oompul,sory and motor insurance is nationalised, a'-'ld transport itself i! largely
by Sta.le Undertakings, the principle of no-fault liability and on-the-spot e'ettle-
ment of claims should become· national policy. [186 B, C, D-E]
II. Courts must give the accident claimS' cases high priority, adopt simplified
procedures \Vithout breach of natural jus-tice, try. out pre-trial settlements aind
narrow down the controversy and remember, that 'wiping every tear from every
eye' has judicial relevance. For, law must keep its promise to justice. [186 G~
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CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Special Leave Petition (Civil)
No. 4120 of 1978.
From the Judgment and Order dated 8-3-78 of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court in Civil Revision No. 80 I /7 6.
Prem Malhotra and M. N. Shroff for the Petitioner.
The Order of the Court was delivered by
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KRISHNA IYER, J.-We refuse leave bnt with a message tag.
The poor shall not be priced out of the justice market by insist-
ence on court-fee and refusal to apply the exemptive provisions of
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HARYANA
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DARSHANA (Krishna Iyer, !.)
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Order XXXIII, C.P.C
So we are distressed
that the State of
Haryana, mindless of the mandate of equal justice to the
indigent
under the Magna Carta of our Republic, expressed in Article 14 and
stressed in Art 39A of the Constitution, has sought leave to appeal
against the order of the High Court which has rightly extended
the
'pauper' provisions to auto-accident claims.
The reasoning of
the
High Court in holding that Order XXXIII will apply to tribunals
which have the trappings of the civil court finds our approval.
We
affirm the decision.
Even so it is fair for the State to make clear the situation by fram-
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--ing appropriate rules to exempt from levy of court fee cases of claims
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of compensation where automobile accidents are the cause .
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Here is a case of a widow and daughter claiming compensation
for the killing of the sole bread-winner _by a State Transport bus; and
the Haryana Government, instead of acting on social
justice and
generously settling the claim, fights like a cantankerous. litigant even
by avoiding adjudication through the device of asking for court-fee
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from the pathetic plaintiffs.
Two principles are involved.
Access to court is an
aspect of
Social Justice and the State has no rational litigation policy
if
it
forgets this fundamental.
Our perspective is best projected by Cap-
pelletti, quoted by the Australian Law Reform Commission :
"The nght of effective access to justice
has emerged
with the new social rights. Indeed, it is of paramount im-
portance among these new rights since, clearly, the enjoy-
ment of traditional as well as new social rights presupposes
mechanisms for their effective protection.
Such protection,
moreover, is best assured by a workable remedy within the
framework of the judicial system.
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