CASE BRIEF

CASE NAME AND CASE LAW:

M.H. Uma Maheshwari and Ors v. United India Insurance Co.
Ltd.;(Civil Appeal No. 2558 of 2020 arising out of S.L.P No.
19221 of 2018); [Section 166 in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988]
FACTS:
The appellant is the wife of deceased S.T. Devaraju who was
working as a commissioner of Raichur city municipal
corporation during that time. The deceased was travelling in a
car he met with an accident and suffered various injuries and
died subsequently. The appellant alleged that the accident
occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the driver, she
filed a claim petition of Rs. 2,00,00,000 under section 166 of
the act. The motor accident claims tribunal awarded the
appellants a total compensation of Rs. 65,60,347. Aggrieved by
the order the respondent filed an appeal in the High Court of
Karnataka, where the court recalculated the amount to be
compensated to the appellants and the sum was Rs.
57,78,480. The appellant then moved to the supreme court.
ISSUE:
Whether the High court was correct in giving its order?
JUDGEMENT:
The Hon'ble Supreme Court on June 12th, 2020 by the 3-judge
bench of Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice R. Subhash Reddy,
Justice Surya Kant held that the compensation awarded by the
tribunal is just and reasonable and the same was interfered by
the High Court on unreasonable grounds. The judgment of the
High Court was set aside and the judgment of the Tribunal was
restored by the Supreme Court.