The Supreme Court of India has expressed concern over a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Hyderabad issuing handwritten order sheets in a recent case [National Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Rathlavath Chandulal & Ors].A Bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Vijay Bishnoi directed the Telangana High Court to examine why computers were not used by the tribunal located in the City Civil Courts at Hyderabad.The top court said it had to call for a typed copy, while deciding an appeal, because the handwritten orders were not legible."This is despite the fact that the Government of India has spent thousands of crores of rupees in computerization of the Courts throughout the country..The e-Courts project was started way back in the year 2007 and we are running into third phase thereof. In that situation, we do not find any justification for the orders of the Tribunal to be handwritten, which otherwise are also not legible,” the Bench observed..The Court also flagged that the order sheets did not carry the names or UID numbers of the officers.“Even the name of the officers or their UID numbers have also not been mentioned where they had put their initials on the order sheets. In the absence thereof, either it is impossible to identify the officer or anyone may have to put in extra efforts to find out the same from the records as to who was posted in that Court at a particular time,” the Bench noted..Thus, the Court asked the High Court Chief Justice to look into the issue. The Court also directed that its order be sent to the Chief Justices of other High Courts for appropriate corrective measures, if required.It said if computers have already been supplied to the tribunals, the High Court must ascertain why orders are still being written by hand. If computers have not been provided, the reasons for the same would have to be examined and immediate corrective steps must be taken, the Court added.“We cannot lose sight of the fact that the entire Court system is moving towards ‘paperless Courts’, which means from bottom to top,” the Bench remarked..These observations came in an appeal related to a 2020 road accident in which a 22-year-old suffered serious injuries, leaving him with 100 per cent functional disability.After MACT awarded him a compensation of over ₹2.72 crore with interest, the insurer, National Insurance Company Limited, moved the High Court.The appeal was dismissed last year after a company official gave an undertaking during execution proceedings to satisfy the decree.The Supreme Court has now set aside the order and asked the High Court to hear the matter afresh on merits. In the meantime, it directed the insurer to release ₹1 crore to the claimant..Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora with advocates Hetu Arora Sethi, Rahul Jain, Sanidhya Kumar and Kanak Bathwal appeared for the petitioner.[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
