Accident claims tribunal to have first evening court

Road accident victims or their families who are fighting for years to get compensation can sigh relief with the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Mumbai starting an evening court from Friday. This will be the first evening court across MACTs in Maharashtra. Manish Pachouly reports.

Road accident victims or their families who are fighting for years to get compensation can sigh relief with the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Mumbai starting an evening court from Friday. This will be the first evening court across MACTs in Maharashtra.

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RR Gandhi, chairman, MACT, Mumbai confirmed the development. The court would be inaugurated by Chief Justice of Bombay high court Mohit Shah. The evening court would function Monday to Friday from 6pm to 8pm.

The MACT presently has 8 courts that run at regular time.

Lawyers say that the evening court will provide relief, as it could share the burden of the day court. There are over 14,000 cases pending in MACT, Mumbai. Further, on average, it gets 4,000 to 5,000 cases in a year.

Senior advocate VS Chaugule who practices at MACT said, “This measure will definitely help the motor accident victims in getting speedy compensation.” Not only pending cases, but the evening court could also hear fresh ones.

MACT Chairman Gandhi said that it would be helpful for those who cannot take leave and attend the court in the day time. He added that such people would benefit, as they can attend the evening court.

Presently the existing members (as they are called in MACT) would on rotation take hearing in the evening court after attending the regular court in the day time.

MACT staff said that slowly separate members would be appointed for the evening court. They said that the number of evening courts could also be increased at later stage.