SAFIQ AHMADversusICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. & OTHERS

560                       [2021]
               SUPREME COURT     9 S.C.R. 560
                              REPORTS                        [2021] 9 S.C.R.


A                                SAFIQ AHMAD
                                        v.
            ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.
                                 & OTHERS
                (Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 1110 of 2017)
B
                              DECEMBER 16, 2021
                [M. R. SHAH AND SANJIV KHANNA, JJ.]
           Compensation – Filing of fake claim petitions for getting
      compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act as well as under the
C     Workmen Compensation Act – How to curb the menace – Before
      any further directions are issued, the Ministry of Transport,
      Government of India to give suggestions for remedial and preventive
      measures – Direction issued to implead Ministry of Transport,
      Government of India as a party-respondent – Workmen
D     Compensation Act – Motor Vehicles Act.
             CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Special Leave Petition
      (Civil) No.1110 of 2017.
             From the Judgment and Order dated 07.10.2015 of the High Court
      of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow in Civil Revision
E     No.49 of 2015.
            Deepak Thukral, Dy. AG, K. M. Nataraj, Jayant Sud, ASGs, Atul
      Nanda, Ms. Rachana Srivastava, Arvind Verma, Aman Sinha, K. L.
      Janjani, K. J. Janjani, Sr. Advs., Siddharth, Amit Kumar Agarwal, Anjani
      Kumar Mishra, Ms. Hardeep Kaur Mishra, Praveen Kumar Mishra,
F     Rajesh Sen, Dr. Pratyush Nandan, Raghavendra S. Srivatsa, Arjun Garg,
      Aakash Nandolia, Ms. Sagun Srivastava, Navneet Kumar, Ajit Pravin
      Wagh, Mohit Singh, Parijat Kishore, Suvendu Suvasis Dash, Md. Apzal
      Ansari, V. N. Raghupathy, Sanjai Kumar Pathak, Ms. Shashi Pathak,
      Ms. Mohini Chaubey, Annam D. N. Rao, Annam Venkatesh, Rahul
      Mishra, Ms. Ananya Khandelwal, Ms. Agrimaa Singh, Shiv Shankar, T.
G     R. B. Sivakumar, Nikhil Goel, Abhinav Mukerji, Mrs. Bihu Sharma,
      Akshay C. Shrivastav, Ms. Pratishtha Vij, Sudhir Naagar, Ms. Ruchi
      Kohli, B. Krishna Prasad, Ms. Radhika Gautam, Praveen Agrawal, T.
      G. Narayanan Nair, Ms. Priya Balakrishnan, Devendra Singh, Vishwajit
      S. Kamble, Hitesh Kumar Sharma, S. K. Rajora, Akhileswar Jha, Sunil
H     Mare, Naresh K. Sharma, Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, Anil K. Jha,
                                        560
 SAFIQ AHMAD v. ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE                              561
                 CO. LTD. & OTHERS

Sibo Sankar Mishra, Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, Avneesh Arputham, Ms.            A
Anuradha Arputham for M/s Arputham Aruna and Co., K. S. Mahadevan,
Ms. Swati Bansal, Rajesh Kumar, Ambhoj Kumar Sinha, Bharat
Barowaria, Vishnu Mehra, Ms. Manjeet Chawla, Anant Mehrotra,
Sandeep Sudhakar Deshmukh, Mukesh K. Giri, Sahil Tagotra, Mrs.
Swarupma Chaturvedi, Ms. Sakshi Kakkar, Ms. Samridhi Sharma, Shakti
                                                                             B
Singh, Samar Vijay Singh, Vipin Singh Bansal, Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi,
Shakil Ahmad Syed, Pradeep Misra, Abhimanyu Tewari, Ms. Eliza Bar,
Siddhesh Kotwal, Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Ms. Manya Hasija, Ms. Pragya
Barsaiyan, Akash Singh, Nirnimesh Dube, Ms. Uttara Babbar, Manan
Bansal, Anmol Chandan, Deepabali Dutta, Deep Shikha Bharti, Rajesh
Singh Chauhan, Gurmeet Singh Makker, Aravindh S., Ms. C. Rubavathi,          C
Gautam Sharma, Dr. Monika Gusain, Narendra Kumar, Raghavendra
Kr., Anand Kr. Dubey, C. K. Sasi, Abdulla Naseeh V. T., Meena K. P.,
M/s Parekh & Co., D. Kumanan, Sheikh Fakhruddin Kalia, Ms. Astha
Sharma, Anant Vijay Palli, Nikhil Palli, Deepak Goel, Amrish Kumar,
Suhan Mukerji, Vishal Prasad, Nikhil Parikshith, Sayandeep Pahari for
                                                                             D
M/s PLR Chambers & Co., Kunal Chatterji, Ms. Maitrayee Banrejee,
Rohit Bansal, Jayant Mohan, Sunny Choudhary, Sandeep Sharma, Mrs.
K. Enatoli Sema, Amit Kumar Singh, Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Avijit Mani
Tripathi, T. K. Nayak, K. V. Kharlynydoh, Shirish Mehrotra, Ms. Prashanti
Singh, Atul, Sanpreet Ajmani, Bably Singh, Ms. Manju Jetley, Mrs. G.
Indira, Ms. Habilila Nana, Advs. for the appearing Parties.                  E
      The following Order of the Court was passed :
                                ORDER
       1. The issue is with respect to filing of fake claim petitions for
getting compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act as well as under the       F
Workmen Compensation Act.
       2. Pursuant to our earlier order dated 05.10.2021, the Special
Investigating Team (SIT) has filed a Status Report with respect to
complaints filed/enquiry completed, the names of the accused, where
the criminal complaints are filed and in which criminal cases the charge     G
sheets have been filed. A separate sheet containing the names of
advocates against whom the prima facie cases of cognizable offences
have been found, is also filed in a separate sealed cover. It is stated in
the Status Report that total 1376 cases of suspicious claims from various
Districts in the State of U.P. have been received so far by the SIT. That
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562             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                              [2021] 9 S.C.R.


A     the year-wise detail of 1376 cases received in various years thereof is
      as under:




B



             3. It is reported that out of total 1376 cases of suspicious claims
      received by the SIT, after completing enquiry of 247 cases of suspicious
C     claims till date, total 198 accused persons have been prima facie found
      guilty of cognizable offence and accordingly total 92 criminal cases have
      been registered in various districts. It is stated in the Status Report that
      against some of the accused persons, more than 1 criminal cases have
      been registered. It is stated that enquiry of remaining cases of suspicious
      claims is underway.
D
             3.1 It is further stated that out of total criminal cases registered so
      far, investigation of 36 criminal cases have been completed and charge
      sheets against accused persons have been filed in 32 criminal cases and
      final reports in 4 criminal cases have been forwarded to the concerned
      Criminal Court.
E
            3.2 It is further stated that total 92 criminal cases in various Districts
      have been registered till date, of which, 28 advocates have been named
      as accused persons in 55 cases. Charge sheets against 11 advocates in
      25 cases have been forwarded to the concerned trial Court till date.

F            3.3 It is further stated in the Status Report that Headquarter of
      the SIT is situated in Lucknow. Officers/employees have to go in the
      districts of the entire State and sometimes have to go in other States
      outside the State of Uttar Pradesh for conducting enquiry/investigation
      proceedings as and when so warranted. It is stated that due to the outbreak
      of Covid-19, there was a lockdown and termination of transportation
G     services in the State and even some of the officers/employees have
      been got infected, enquiry/investigation process was adversely affected.
      It is stated that on getting the situation normal after completion of
      lockdown of Corona period, full attempts are being made to start this
      enquiry/investigation process speedily.
H
 SAFIQ AHMAD v. ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE                                   563
                 CO. LTD. & OTHERS

      3.4 Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the SIT has also                 A
submitted that as the respective insurance companies are not ready to
being complainants in the FIR, the investigating officer of the SIT has to
become the complainant and therefore also it takes some time. It is
reported that the investigating officer is also present in the Court.
      4. We impress upon the investigating officer of the SIT to expedite         B
the enquiry/investigation with respect to complaints already received
from various insurance companies with respect to suspicious fake claims.
We also call upon the SIT to file a further affidavit pointing out in how
many cases the charge sheets have been filed; when the charge sheets
have been filed (the date of filing of the charge sheets), in which Courts
the charge sheets have been filed and in how many cases the charges               C
have been framed by the concerned Magisterial Court.
       5. A response affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Bar Council
of Uttar Pradesh dated 05.12.2021 affirmed by an Advocate and the
Member Secretary of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh. It is stated in
the response affidavit that the Chairman and the Member Secretary of              D
the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh have assumed their office after being
elected on 06.07.2021. The Chairman and the Member Secretary of the
Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh have tendered unqualified and
unconditionally apology for any act/s or omission/s on their part, which is
neither deliberate nor intentional.                                               E
       5.1 It is stated that the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh also ensures
that the errant advocates who are indulged in such activities of filing
fake claim cases, in an unethical manner, may not be left scot-free and
shall be dealt with appropriately in accordance with law. It is stated that
the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh is duty bound to take action against             F
the errant advocates in accordance with law and it shall adhere with the
directions of this Court in letter and spirit and will also ensure to conclude
the disciplinary proceedings in the specified time period.
       5.2 In the response affidavit, it is stated that pursuant to the earlier
directions issued by this Court, directing the Bar Council of India and the       G
Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to file a detailed report and steps taken,
the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh has taken the following actions:
       i) Vide letter dated 22.09.2021, it called upon the Workmen
       Compensation Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh and the General
       Manager, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd. to
                                                                                  H
564            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2021] 9 S.C.R.


A           provide the details and copy of the complaint. However, till
            29.09.2021 no response was received.
            ii) Subsequent thereto, the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh again
            sent a reminder letter on 29.09.2021 to the Workmen Compensation
            Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh and the General Manager, ICICI
B           Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd.
            iii) the Office Superintendent of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh
            was also called upon to submit its report about the action taken
            pursuant to the earlier directions issued by this Court. However,
            no satisfactory response was furnished. Some complaints
C           pertaining to the year 2013 were supplied. It was further reported
            that as per the office report, ICICI Lombard General Insurance
            Company Ltd. has not sent any complaint under the Advocates’
            Act as such an appropriate action could be taken upon receipt of
            such complaint. Furthermore, the Secretary of the Bar Council
            was called upon to provide the details of the advocates alleged to
D           have been involved into such unethical practice, along with their
            names, enrolment number and addresses, so that appropriate
            proceedings can be drawn against the errant advocates in
            compliance of the directions issued by this Court.
            a) The Bar Council of India vide its letter dated 22.11.2021
E           suspended 28 (twenty-eight) Advocates and the ‘Bar Council of
            Uttar Pradesh’ was directed to conclude the disciplinary
            proceedings against them within a specified period of 3 (three)
            months.
            b) Pursuant to that, an emergent meeting of General House of the
F           Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh was called on 27.11.2021 and
            Disciplinary Committees were also constituted on the same day.
            c) That on the next day, i.e., 28.11.2021, the Chairman of the Bar
            Council of Uttar Pradesh, allocated that said cases to the
            Disciplinary Committees and consequently the said Disciplinary
G           Committees issued notice issue to the errant 27 (twenty-seven)
            advocates, fixing therein next date of hearing on 08.12.2021. It
            may be clarified here that 1 (one) advocate namely Jai Singh has
            already been passed away/died.
            6. We appreciate the steps taken by the Bar Council of Uttar
H     Pradesh, taken on or after 22.09.2021, which shall ensure to maintain
 SAFIQ AHMAD v. ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE                              565
                 CO. LTD. & OTHERS

the purity of the legal profession in the State of Uttar Pradesh. We also    A
impress upon the Bar Council of India/Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to
conclude the disciplinary proceedings in accordance with law as early
as possible.
        7. We have also heard at length Shri Atul Nanda, learned Senior
Advocate and Shri Vishnu Mehra, learned Advocate appearing on behalf         B
of the two insurance companies and learned counsel appearing on behalf
of the State of Uttar Pradesh/SIT on the modus operandi of the advocates
for filing fake cases under Motor Vehicles Act and Workmen
Compensation Act. Separate notes have been filed pointing out the modus
operandi in instituting the fake compensation petitions. Some of the modus
operandi adopted are as under:                                               C

      i)     Non-road accident injury-death converted into road accident
             claims;
      ii)    fraudulent implantation of vehicle;
      iii)   false implantation of driver;                                   D
      iv)    claimant implantation;
      v)     multiple claims at various for a at different territorial
             locations for compensation out of injury/death caused arising
             out of the same accident. Often the claim applications are
                                                                             E
             filed both before various MACT Tribunals as well as the
             authorities under the Employees Compensation Act, 1923;
      vi)    fake/fabricated insurance policies; and
      vii)   fake/fabricated income documents/medical documents for
             exaggerated compensation                                        F
       7.1 Investigating Officer of SIT has also filed a short note on
modus operandi in instituting fake compensation petitions, which are based
on rich experience during investigation/enquiry of the Criminal Cases/
FIRs/Complaints, which are as under:
      1. CASES OF HIT AND RUN                                                G

             Such road accidents which are occurred from unknown
             vehicles, alleged eyewitnesses are prepared therein, on the
             basis of their affidavit/statements, facts are brought in the
             light showing accident committed by some other insured
                                                                             H
566     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2021] 9 S.C.R.


A         vehicle and petition is instituted against owner/driver/
          insurance company of the aforementioned vehicle.
          In the cases of such road accident which have been
          committed by unknown vehicles, for the purpose of
          institution of the compensation petitions, in a well designed
B         planning, documents related to vehicle/driver are obtained
          from some advocates and documents of such vehicles/driver
          used in some other compensation petitions/cases are used
          in institution of false petitions.
          Such road accidents which are occurred from some unknown
C         vehicles, in that accidents are shown to have been
          committed by such vehicles which are old and their vehicle
          owners remain first registered owners. Advocates purchase
          such aforementioned vehicles as old vehicles, they do not
          get such vehicles registered in their own names whereas
D         the actual/registered owners of those vehicles have already
          died. Despite of death of original owner, fake General Power
          of Attorneys are executed/prepared in the names of such
          deceased vehicle owners through their companions
          advocates. Aforementioned vehicles are shown in such road
          accident, which were occurred from unknown vehicles.
E         Aforementioned vehicles have been shown in accident in
          many such cases and compensations petitions have been
          instituted.
          In the cases of such road accidents wherein First
          Information Reports are registered against unknown
F         vehicles and when those unknown vehicles are not traced
          and local Investigating Officers submit their Final Report in
          the cases before the Hon’ble Courts. In such accidents if a
          person has died while travelling in those vehicles and second
          person has injured, then holding that injured person himself
G         to be driver of the aforementioned vehicle, showing his
          negligence, by impleading as opposite party to the insurance
          company of his own vehicle for receiving compensation,
          compensation petitions are also filed for receiving amount
          of compensation.
      2. CASES OF KNOWN VEHICLES WITHOUT INSURANCE.
H
SAFIQ AHMAD v. ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE                          567
                CO. LTD. & OTHERS

       If road accident is occurred with known vehicle and not          A
       insured at that time, in connivance with owner or driver of
       other insured vehicle in place of that vehicle, compensation
       petitions are instituted by showing aforementioned road
       accident of the said insured vehicle.
   3. CASES OF FICTIONAL ACCIDENT AND FALSE                             B
   PETITIONS
       Such false compensation petitions have also come into light
       wherein name and address of the petitioner could not be
       ascertained and imaginary story is created on behalf of such
       petitioner and false Claim petitions are instituted.             C
   4. CASES RELATED TO CONNIVANCE OF VEHICLE
   OWNER/VEHICLE DRIVER/ADVOCATE
       For the purpose of earning illegal money, some actual vehicle
       owners and actual drivers of vehicles in connivance with         D
       advocates, submits registration certificates of their vehicles
       and Driver Licences in the unknown motor accident cases
       for filing fake petitions.
   5. IMPLEADING NAME AND ADDRESS OF FAKE
   PERSONS IN ACTUAL ACCIDENTS
                                                                        E
       Persons of fake names and addresses showing as drivers/
       cleaners in place of actual and correct injured persons
       (driver/cleaner) involved in the actual accident cases,
       compensation petitions are instituted in the W.C.A. courts
       by showing them injured in the aforementioned accidents.         F
   6. CASES RELATED TO HANDICAPPED/ DECEASED
   PERSONS DUE TO OTHER REASONS
       During course of enquiry/investigation, such fake
       compensation petitions have also come into light wherein
       petitioner has become handicapped due to some other reason       G
       (like chopping off hand from thrasher machine), and second
       copy of fake handicapped certificates of their being
       disabled/ handicapped obtained again showing date of
       accident after date of fake accident and fake compensation
       petitions have also been instituted.
                                                                        H
568     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2021] 9 S.C.R.


A         Despite not being injured in the road accidents, after death
          or injured for any other reasons, his family members or he
          himself showing him or that person to be the driver/cleaner/
          labourer who died or injured, compensation petitions are
          instituted in fake manner.
B     7. CASES RELATED TO FILING SAME CASE IN MORE
      THAN ONE COURTS
          In one road accident, wherein a person has died or injured,
          his family members or he himself submits compensation
          petition in the M.A.C.T. court related to aforementioned
C         road accident. If decision of the court is not in his favour,
          then the same petitioner changes the story and again submits
          his petition before the W.C.A. court (Workmen’s
          Compensation Act).
          After institution of compensation related to a road accident
D         in a court and after receiving its compensation amount, again
          same accident is shown with other vehicle which is insured
          with other insurance company and second Claim petition is
          instituted in the W.C.A. court of any other district for
          receiving compensation amount again.
E     8. CASES RELATED TO AFFIXING PHOTOGRAPH OF A
      SAME PERSON IN THE COMPENSATION AMOUNT
      CHEQUE DISTRIBUTION REGISTER IN MORE THAN
      ONE PETITIONS
          Some compensation petitions were instituted in the W.C.A.
F         court in the names of different persons. After judgement of
          the aforementioned court, photograph of the same person
          is affixed in more than one case/petition, on the Cheque
          Distribution Register for receiving cheque related to
          compensation amount and compensation amount was
G         received and thereafter, entire aforementioned amount was
          got transferred by the concerned advocate in his own bank
          account or in the bank accounts of his family members.
      9. CASES TO GET THE PETITIONS DISMISSED AFTER
      TRANSFER OF FAVOURING DEPUTY LABOUR
H
SAFIQ AHMAD v. ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE                               569
                CO. LTD. & OTHERS

   COMMISSIONER, RE-SUBMITTING THE PETITIONS AT                              A
   HIS NEWLY POSTED PLACE
       During investigation/enquiry of the compensation petitions,
       it is also found that petitions related to occurrence of
       accidents instituted in the W.C.A. court of concerned
       District. When Deputy Labour Commissioner of W.C.A.                   B
       court of aforementioned District transferred to some other
       district, then some advocates of aforementioned district get
       their compensation petitions dismissed, and thereafter they
       instituted new petitions again in aforementioned district
       where the then Deputy Labour Commissioner was
                                                                             C
       transferred by showing fake address in the petitions.
   10. INSTITUTION OF PETITIONS IN OTHER DISTRICT
   INSTEAD OF INSTITUTING PETITIONS IN THE DISTRICT
   OF ACCIDENT SPOT/PLACE
       During investigation/enquiry of the compensation petitions,           D
       it is also found that some compensation petitions were not
       instituted in the court of district of place/spot of accident,
       rather they were instituted in the court of other district by
       mentioning only temporary address instead of mentioning
       original address of the petitioner. It is also pertinent to mention
                                                                             E
       here that this temporary address also remains incomplete.
   11. CASES RELATED TO FAKE VAKALATNAMA
       During investigation/enquiry of the compensation petitions
       related to road accidents, this fact has also come into light
       that actual/main advocate who has filed the claim petition,           F
       does not submit his own Vakalatnama in the concerned court,
       he submits Vakalatnama on behalf of such Advocate, who
       does not file the compensation petitions by mentioning his
       mobile number on the compensation petitions.
       During investigation/enquiry of the compensation petitions            G
       related to road accidents, this fact has also come into light
       that advocate who has submitted compensation petition in
       the concerned court, he mentioned name of such fake person
       in place of name of Advocate, whose whereabouts could
       not be ascertained. Whereas such case was pursued by
                                                                             H
570             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                            [2021] 9 S.C.R.


A                  the advocate who submitted this petition in camouflage
                   manner.
              7.2 Shri Atul Nanda and Shri Vishnu Mehra, learned counsel
      appearing on behalf of the two insurance companies have submitted
      that despite various directions issued by this Court as well as the various
B     High Courts, there is non-adherence to the provisions of Section 158(6)
      (pre 2019 amendment) and Section 159 (post 2019 amendment) of the
      Motor Vehicles Act. Reliance is placed on the decisions of this Court in
      the cases of General Insurance Council v. State of Andhra Pradesh,
      reported in (2007) 12 SCC 354; General Insurance Council v. State
      of Andhra Pradesh, reported in (2010) 6 SCC 768; Jai Prakash v.
C     National Insurance Company Ltd., reported in (2010) 2 SCC 607
      and recent decision of this Court dated 16.03.2021 passed in Writ Petition
      (Civil) No. 534/2020, reported in 2021 SCC OnLine SC 418. It is submitted
      that this Court in its order dated 16.03.2021 passed in Writ Petition (Civil)
      No. 534/2020 has issued the following directions:
D           A. Accident Information Report-
            The jurisdictional police station shall report the accident under
            Section 158(6) of the Act (Section 159 post 2019 amendment)
            (hereinatfer “the report”) to the tribunal and insurer within first
            48 hours either over email or a dedicated website.
E
            B. Detailed Accident Report-
            Police shall collect the documents relevant to the accident and for
            computation of compensation and shall verify the information and
            documents. These documents shall form part of the Report. It
F           shall email the Report to the tribunal and the insurer within three
            months. Similarly, the claimants may also be permitted to email
            the application for compensation with supporting documents, under
            Section 166 to the tribunal and the insurer within the same time.
            C. The tribunal shall issue summons along with the Report or the
            application for compensation, as the case may be, to the insurer
G
            by email.
            D. The insurer shall email their offer for settlement/response to
            the Report or the application for claim to the tribunal along with
            proof of service on the claimants.
H
 SAFIQ AHMAD v. ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE                                571
                 CO. LTD. & OTHERS

      E. After passing the award, the tribunal shall email an authenticated    A
      copy of the award to the insurer.
      F. The insurer shall satisfy the award by depositing the awarded
      amount into a bank account maintained by the tribunal by RTGS
      or NEFT. For this purpose, the tribunal shall maintain a bank
      account and record the relevant account details along with the           B
      directions for payment to the insurer in the award itself.
      G. Each tribunal shall create an email ID peculiar to its jurisdiction
      for receiving the emails from the police and the insurer as mentioned
      above. Similarly, all insurer throughout India shall also create an
      email ID peculiar to the jurisdiction of each claim tribunal. These      C
      email IDs would be prominently displayed at tribunal, the police
      stations and the office of the insurers for the benefit of the
      claimants. Similarly, these email IDS shall also be prominently
      displayed on the website maintained by the tribunal and the insurer.
      H. Insurers shall appoint nodal officers for each tribunal and           D
      provide their contact details, phone and mobile phone numbers,
      and email address to Director Generals of State Police and the
      tribunals.
        7.3 Shri Atul Nanda, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf
of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited has also made two           E
suggestions in its note. He has submitted that if the earlier directions
issued by this Court in the aforesaid decisions are implemented fully and
in letter and spirit and Section 159 of the Motor Vehicles Act is complied
with by all the Police Officers pan India and the accident information
report as contemplated under Section 159 (post 2019 amendment) is out
on the Government Portal – National Register of vehicle registration           F
known as “VAHAN” AND “SAARTHI”, in that case, it can solve the
problem of filing more than one claims in different States with respect to
the same accident. It is submitted that the Transport Authorities under
the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 is maintaining a National Register of vehicle
registration known as “VAHAN” AND “SAARTHI”. It is submitted                   G
that this has rendered the issuance and verification of the driving licenses
and registration of vehicles, transparent and hassle free. It is submitted
that these existing databases can be rendered useful for the purposes of
adjudication of claims also if they can be expanded to include details of
the accidents and drivers. It is submitted that if the “VAHAN” portal is
                                                                               H
572             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2021] 9 S.C.R.


A     modified to allow and the police officials who is investigating the accident
      in question is required to mandatorily endorse an entry of the accident
      against such portal with an automatic intimation on the registered mobile
      of the owner, it will be very useful in preventing the submission of such
      fake claims.
B            7.4 It is further submitted by Shri Atul Nanda, learned senior
      counsel that SITs are required to be constituted in each of the States. It
      is submitted that only in the States of UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat, the SIT
      is existing. It is therefore prayed that the respective State Governments
      may be directed to constitute SIT with respect to complaints of suspicious
      fake claims/petitions which may be headed by an officer not below the
C     rank of Additional Director General of Police, with adequate infrastructure
      and human resource.
             8. Having heard learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
      respective insurance companies and the learned counsel appearing on
      behalf of the State of UP/SIT and the suggestions made, we are of the
D     opinion that before any further directions are issued, we may have the
      response from the Ministry of Transport, Government of India to have
      their suggestions for remedial and preventive measures for curbing the
      menace of filing of false/fraud claim petitions.
             We accordingly direct the Registry to implead the Ministry of
E     Transport, Government of India as a party-respondent and issue notice.
      We request Shri K.M. Nataraj, learned Additional Solicitor General of
      India to appear on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, Government of
      India and to assist the Court and to come out with suggestions how to
      curb the menace of filing false/fake claim petitions. After getting the
F     response/suggestions, we may issue further directions to be applied pan
      India.
             Put up for further consideration on 25.01.2022.

      Bibhuti Bhushan Bose                                         Directions issued.
G




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