In an original petition filed before the Kerala High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction upon the MACT to number the claim petition and to permit him to produce copies of his Aadhar card and PAN card before the pre-trial steps, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Murali Purushothaman held that the Tribunal has to number the claim petition even if Aadhaar or PAN details are not furnished at the time of filing.
The petitioner filed a claim petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Palakkad (MACT) on 31-03-2026 seeking compensation for the personal injuries sustained by him in an accident that occurred on 13-11-2025. Under the ‘list of documents’, the petitioner stated that “the Aadhar card and PAN card would be produced at the time of evidence.”
MACT found the claim petition to be defective on scrutiny and returned the same on 24-04-2026 with the endorsement “Copy of Aadhaar and PAN card not seen produced.” On 05-05-2026, the petitioner resubmitted the claim petition stating that the Aadhaar and PAN card would be produced within two weeks. However, MACT returned the petition again stating that the previous order had not been complied with. Each time the claim petition was resubmitted seeking time to cure the defect, it was returned with the endorsement that the order dated 24-04-2026 was not complied with. Hence, the present petition.
By an order dated 07-09-2026, the Court called for a report from the MACT regarding the un-numbered claim petition. In the report submitted it was mentioned that the claim petition was returned in obedience to a circular dated 19-09-2025 issued by this Court laying down the procedure to be followed by all the MACTs both before and after passing an award. It was noted that Clause 1(c) of the Circular specifically provided that the Tribunal shall number the claim petition even though the details mentioned in clause 1(a) are not furnished at the time of filing.
The Court stated that the Tribunal cannot refuse to number the claim petition on the ground that the details of the Aadhaar card, PAN card, and email ID were not furnished at the time of filing the claim petition. However, noting that the MACT had already numbered the claim petition, it was held that no further orders were required and the petition was disposed of.
