In an attempt to facilitate speedy disposal of compensation claims in road accidents, the Madras High Court has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to issue circulars to all the Investigating Officers (IO) across the State to file Detailed Accident Reports (DAR) before both the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals and the jurisdictional Magistrates.
The ADR shall be filed along with the final reports for the purpose of deciding the just compensation, Justice P.N. Prakash said while hearing a plea moved by a private general insurance company seeking direction to the authorities concerned to investigate two false motor accident claims in Cuddalore district and take appropriate action.
The petitioner brought to the notice of the Court an order of the Supreme Court dated May13, 2016 mandating filing of DAR by the investigating officers.
Recording the submission, the judge said, “It is for the DGP of Tamil Nadu, to issue necessary circulars directing the investigating officers to file DAR before both the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal and the jurisdictional Magistrates along with the final report for the purpose of deciding just compensation under the provisions of Tamil Nadu Victims Compensation Scheme.”
The DAR procedure mandates the police to immediately register an FIR, identify the victim, the vehicle, owner of the vehicle, obtain the Registration Certificate, Driving Licence, Permit, Insurance Policy, collect the injury or death records of the victims, then compile a Comprehensive Report of all the details with all authenticated documents of the victim’s claim. Then, the officer has to file a detailed report before the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal concerned, to enable the Tribunals to issue notices to the claimants, owners of motor vehicles, drivers and insurance companies and expeditiously assess compensation on the basis of the collected evidence.
