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Yerramma v. G. Krishnamurthy

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 7705 of 2014)Decided 28 Aug 2014
Civil Appeal No. 7705 of 2014
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice V. Gopala Gowda

Background

A 53-year-old police assistant sub-inspector died when his motorcycle collided with a transport corporation bus turning into its depot without indicating the turn. His widow, three minor children and mother sought compensation. The lower courts deducted 25% for alleged contributory negligence and assessed dependency using his take-home salary rather than his gross earnings.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the family's appeal and awarded ₹26,26,600 with 9% annual interest from the claim application until payment. It removed the contributory-negligence deduction because the evidence showed the bus driver's unsignalled turn caused the collision, without proof that the deceased contributed to it. It recalculated dependency using ₹26,000 monthly gross salary, deducting 10% income tax and one-quarter personal expenses, with a multiplier of 11. It also revised the other compensation heads and required payment or deposit within six weeks, crediting amounts already paid.

Lesson Learnt

An accident victim's family can challenge unsupported blame deductions and calculations that ignore gross earnings; compensation depends on the evidence and the rules applicable to that claim.

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

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