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Sangeeta & Ors. v. Krishan Kumar & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 925Decided 3 Oct 2018
Civil Appeal No. 10167 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice A.M. Khanwilkar

Background

The appellants (claimants) had been awarded Rs. 9,85,000 with 6% annual interest by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Patiala. The High Court enhanced the compensation to Rs. 12,12,000 but, due to what the Supreme Court found was an apparent drafting mistake, applied the higher 9% interest rate only to the enhanced portion (Rs. 2,27,000) rather than the full award amount.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court granted leave and, finding the High Court's interest apportionment to be a mistake and unjust, decided it did not need to issue notice to the respondents before correcting it. The appeal was partly allowed: the Court held the appellants were entitled to 9% annual interest on the entire compensation amount awarded by the High Court, running from the date the claim petition was filed before the Tribunal, with the amount already deposited by the insurer to be adjusted. No costs were ordered.

Lesson Learnt

Courts can and will correct an apparent clerical or computational error in an interest award (such as limiting enhanced interest only to the enhanced portion of compensation rather than the whole amount) even at a brief hearing, to ensure claimants are not shortchanged by a drafting oversight.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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