(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), any person aggrieved by an award of a Claims Tribunal may, within ninety days from the date of the award, prefer an appeal to the High Court:
Provided that no appeal by the person who is required to pay any amount in terms of such award shall be entertained by the High Court, unless he has deposited with it twenty-five thousand rupees or fifty per cent. of the amount so awarded, whichever is less, in the manner directed by the High Court:
Provided further that the High Court may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of ninety days, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the appeal in time.
(2) No appeal shall lie against any award of a Claims Tribunal if the amount in dispute in the appeal is less than [one lakh] rupees.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 173
Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 governs appeals to the High Court against MACT awards, establishing a ninety-day limitation period and mandatory statutory pre-deposit requirements.
The first proviso to sub-section (1) imposes a mandatory condition precedent for appeals filed by insurers or owners: no appeal shall be entertained unless the appellant deposits twenty-five thousand rupees or fifty percent of the awarded amount, whichever is less, in the High Court. Sub-section (2) restricts trivial litigation by providing that no appeal shall lie against an award if the amount in dispute is less than one lakh rupees (enhanced from ten thousand rupees by the 2019 Amendment).
Section 173 appeals represent a complete rehearing on questions of law and fact. Claimants appealing for enhancement frequently obtain significant increases in the High Court following the stabilization of the Pranay Sethi and Sarla Verma guidelines. For insurance companies, failure to take Section 170 leave at the tribunal stage severely curtails appellate grounds, restricting challenges strictly to Section 150 statutory defenses.