On April 22, 2025, a bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan made important decisions in a suo motu writ case over a lot of money that was not claimed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunals (MAC Tribunals) and Labour Courts. A retired judge raised a concern that led to the petition. It pointed out that many people who should get compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 are unable to do so. The Court imposed procedural and administrative orders to make sure that claimants get what is rightly theirs, knowing how serious the matter is.
Reasons for the Petition
The Supreme Court started the case after receiving an email from Shri B.B. Pathak, a retired District Judge from Gujarat. In the email, he pointed out that a lot of compensation that had been granted to victims or their relatives under the relevant compensation legislation had not yet been delivered.
This caused the filing of Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No. 7 of 2024. The State of Gujarat and the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court were the first to get notification.Subsequently notifications were sent to the Registrar Generals of the High Courts at Allahabad, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras. Ms. Meenakshi Arora is appointed as amicus curiae with an intention to assist the Court in developing plausible solutions.
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Figures That Shocked
As the case went on, detailed affidavits from numerous High Courts painted a troubling picture. The Gujarat High Court said that there was more than ₹288 crore in unclaimed compensation, with ₹282 crore coming from MAC Tribunals and ₹6.6 crore coming from Labour Courts. The Bombay High Court said that there was even more money that wasn’t claimed: about ₹459 crore in MAC Tribunal compensation. Allahabad, Calcutta, and Goa all sent in information, showing how big the situation is.
The unclaimed amounts are money that was given to victims or their families for injuries or fatalities in car accidents or work-related accidents but was never taken out because to problems with the process, lack of bank account information, or inability to keep track of the beneficiaries.
Legal Framework and Court Analysis
It was primarily decided under the Motor Vehicles Act i.e. under Section 166 which covers claims with respect to motor vehicles causing injury and death to the passengers and Section 176 which has empowered the State Governments to frame rules.The Court said that Section 176 gives States the right to set standards for handling compensation claims, but many had not done so properly.
The Court stressed the need of having the same processes in place to ensure that compensation is paid out quickly. It also said that delayed claims violate victims’ rights and weaken public trust in the legal system. The lack of full claimant information at the time of filing or throughout the hearing caused the funds to stay the same.
Important Directions from the Supreme Court
In order to deal with the problem, the Supreme Court issued a series of comprehensive and legally enforceable orders to all High Courts and other relevant institutions. The following were some of the most important:
Claim petitions must include all of the claimants’ personal information, such as their Aadhar, PAN, and bank account numbers.
MAC Tribunals can’t just throw out incomplete applications; they have to tell the parties to send in the needed material straight away.
You should make payments by direct bank transfer after checking the account information, either using bank certificates or canceled checks.
Until claimants are found, tribunals should put the money they owe in nationalized bank fixed deposits with automatic renewal provisions.
All High Courts must follow these standards and make practice instructions or procedural regulations that are in line with them. They must also start big campaigns to find people who are owed money but haven’t claimed it.
The State Government’s IT department or e-Court project teams must create and keep up a digital dashboard to keep track of payments and update the status of compensation.
District and Taluka Legal Services Authorities, with the support of para-legal volunteers, are supposed to aggressively find and notify beneficiaries, with the help of local police and tax authorities.
Wider effects and responsibility
The Supreme Court’s approach not only concentrates on paying out previous compensation that is still owed, but it also sets up a strong structure to stop these kinds of payments from piling up in the future. The Court encourages systemic accountability by asking both the judicial and executive branches to work together.
The ruling also lets High Courts take more steps, in addition to the ones already listed, to make sure payments are made on time. High Courts had until July 30, 2025, to report on what they had done and how much money was still owed.
The decree also says that any regulations that currently follow the Supreme Court’s orders will still be legitimate. But where there are no such norms or processes in place, High Courts must act right away.
In conclusion
The Supreme Court’s decision is notable for its caring and reformative tone. The Court has stepped in to close the gap between judicial judgments and their real-world execution because it knows that justice delayed is justice denied. A lot of the time, victims of traffic and industrial accidents, who are frequently disadvantaged people, rely on this kind of compensation a lot. The ruling by the Court ensures that such legal rights are not wasted in the red tape or due to some lapse during the process.
This suo motu action demonstrates once again that it is not only disputes that the judiciary must resolve but justice, fair and good governance as well.
