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Saraladevi v. Divisional Manager, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 7158 of 2014)Decided 20 Aug 2014
Civil Appeal No. 7158 of 2014
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice V. Gopala Gowda

Background

A 58-year-old salaried motorcyclist died after being struck from behind. His widow, two daughters and aged mother obtained ₹37,33,248 from the claims tribunal. The High Court reduced this to ₹15,84,750 by splitting the income calculation around retirement, increasing the personal-expense deduction and attributing 25% contributory negligence to him.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the family's appeal and restored the tribunal's award of ₹37,33,248. The finding of contributory negligence lacked supporting evidence, and the High Court had wrongly used a split multiplier and one-third personal expenses where the applicable deduction for these four dependants was one-quarter. The operative order restored interest at 7.5% annually from the claim application until payment and directed the insurer to pay or deposit the balance within six weeks. Although the reasons discussed higher interest and conventional amounts, the final relief expressly affirmed the tribunal's existing award.

Lesson Learnt

An insurer's appeal cannot justify compensation cuts through unsupported contributory-negligence findings or an incorrect dependency calculation; the operative award identifies the amount and interest actually payable.

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

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