Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation v. Alexix Sonier
Background
In January 1988, an American citizen was taking part in a peace march from Ahmedabad to Delhi when a bus of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation struck him from behind on the road between Jaipur and Delhi. He suffered serious head injuries, never regained consciousness, and was later flown to the United States for treatment. The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal awarded about Rs 1.25 crore; the High Court removed one head of US$125,348 for medical costs paid by a Californian state health scheme, and both sides appealed to the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Court dismissed the Corporation's appeal, agreeing that the bus driver was driving rashly and at high speed, as the 32-foot skid marks showed, so contributory negligence did not arise. It upheld the High Court's removal of the US$125,348 medical head, because the state scheme had already paid those costs and must be reimbursed, so the claimant had not personally lost that money. In the claimant's appeal, the Court added Rs 10 lakh for the cost of a lifelong attendant, with 6% interest from the date of the claim, following its earlier decision in Sanjay Verma. It declined to reduce the Tribunal's rupee conversion of the dollar items further, since the converted total was still less than the rupee sum claimed.
Lesson Learnt
Accident victims can recover the expected lifelong cost of care when the need is proved, not just bills already paid. A compensation claim can be reduced where a public scheme has already paid the medical costs and is entitled to be reimbursed.