Must a claim under the Motor Vehicles Act await a Larger Bench reference that does not cover claims against a third party tortfeasor?

No. The reference made to the Larger Bench does not center around cases where the claim is directed solely against an independent third party vehicle; it pertains to the general applicability of Sections 53 and 61 of the ESI Act and the bar against an employee claiming in that capacity both under the ESI Act and other similar benefits like the one under the MV Act. The reference therefore has no bearing in cases dealt with under the MV Act where the claim is made against a third party tortfeasor by the legal heirs of the deceased in his or her individual capacity, and the via-media arrangement of deduction adopted in the earlier judgment, being more in the nature of an interim arrangement, cannot be construed as a ratio decidendi.

Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 — s.53 — s.61 — Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — s.166 — Bar against receiving or recovery of compensation under any other law — Employment injury — Claim against a third party tortfeasor — Deduction of ESI benefits — Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 — s.53 — Ingredients cumulative, not disjunctive — Held: The ingredients of Section 53 are not to be read in a disjunctive manner and have to be understood cumulatively. The actual bar arises only when the claim is made by the insured person as an employee under the ESI Act. (¶19, 20) Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 — s.53 — Claim against a third party tortfeasor — Held further: Where the accident takes place in a public place, the injury is not an employment injury and the legal heirs claim against a third party tortfeasor in the individual capacity of the deceased, the bar under Section 53 does not operate. (¶24, 27) Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 — Benefits independent and de hors other Enactments — Held further: The benefits given under the ESI Act are independent and de hors the benefit which a person will be entitled to receive under a different Enactment in a different capacity. They cannot be deducted from the compensation determined under the MV Act. (¶23, 33) Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Deduction claimed by the tortfeasor and insurer — Premium on illegality — Held further: A tortfeasor and his insurer cannot seek deduction from the compensation determined under the MV Act only on the ground that benefits were availed under the ESI Act. That would amount to putting a premium on illegality. Appeal allowed and award modified. (¶28, 29, 34)

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