New Delhi, Mar 5 (UNI) The Supreme Court has awarded a compensation of ₹9.64 crore to the family of Lakshmi Nagalla, a US-based software engineer who died in a road accident in 2009 due to the rash and negligent driving of a state transport bus.
A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra overturned a Telangana High Court judgment reducing the compensation from ₹8.03 crore, as fixed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Secunderabad, to ₹5.75 crore. Shyam Prasad Nagalla and others, the husband and daughters of the deceased, filed the appeal.
The matter pertains to an accident on June 13, 2009, when Lakshmi Nagalla, aged 43, was travelling with her family in a Honda Car from Annavaram to Rajahmundry when a bus owned by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation collided with their car near Prathipadu.
Lakshmi died on the spot, while other passengers sustained injuries.
In their claim petition before MACT, her family sought ₹9 crore in compensation, citing her Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Southern College of Technology, University of Georgia (USA), and stable income of USD 11,600 per month as a software engineer at K-FORCE Services Corporation, USA, and as a real estate commission salesperson in Georgia.
The tribunal held the transport corporation liable and granted ₹8.03 crore (USD 16,88,960) plus interest at 7.5% per annum. The deceased’s monthly salary was considered after tax deductions, and a 30% increase was granted for future prospects.
The transport corporation appealed to the High Court, arguing that the tribunal erred in applying a multiplier of 14 and wrongly held the vehicle responsible. The Telangana High Court upheld the deceased’s monthly income. Still, it reduced the multiplier from 14 to 10, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in United India Insurance Co Ltd & Ors Vs Patricia Jean Mahajan (2002), which deals with income in foreign currency. The revised award was ₹5.75 crore.
Unhappy with the reduction, the claimants moved to the Supreme Court, which examined two key issues Should the exchange rate for compensation be based on the date of the accident or the date of the claim petition?
And was the High Court correct in applying a reduced multiplier of 10 instead of 14.
The top court ruled that the exchange rate should be fixed at ₹57, the rate when filing the claim petition, as per its ruling in Jiju Kuruvila Vs Kunjujamma Mohan (2013). On the multiplier issue, the court reaffirmed its precedent in National Insurance Co Ltd Vs Pranay Sethi (2017), stating that a multiplier of 14 must be applied for a 43-year-old person, regardless of income in foreign currency.
The Supreme Court recalculated the compensation to ₹9.64 crore, modifying the December 27, 2014, High Court judgment and restoring the interest rate of 7.5% per annum as fixed by Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT), Secunderabad.
