Pradeep D Waingankar, Chief Judge of the Court of Small Cases, Bangalore, awarded Rs 2,27,20,229 to the family of Mahesh B A who was killed when a tractor-trailer (KA 42/T 2336-2337) hit his motorcycle (KA 05/EN 1655) between Dasappana Doddi and Kallugopanahalli near Bidadi on September 4, 2007.
Mahesh’s wife, Divya H Madavaiah, who was riding pillion, was also injured. Mahesh was shifted to a private hospital, where he died two days later. Mahesh’s family dragged the driver of the tractor-trailer, Kempaiah of Kasaba hobli, Ramanagaram taluk, and the ICICI Lombard General Insurance, to court. The petition, filed under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, prayed for a compensation of Rs five crore.
Apart from Divya, Mahesh’s parents N Achutha Rao and H R Geetha also petitioned the court as the victim was the family’s sole breadwinner. The petitioners contended that Mahesh was working as Principal Consultant, IT Services, with MindTree Consulting Limited and earned a salary of US $90,100 (more than Rs 45 lakh at the current value of the rupee) a year when he met with the fatal accident. The case dragged on for nearly four years before judge Waingankar awarded the compensation on July 15, 2011.
According to the petitioner’s advocate, G T Kenche Gowda, the court awarded Rs 4.54 crore as compensation but ordered the payment of only half the amount as it found that both Mahesh and Kempaiah were responsible for the accident. Gowda, however, said that he had filed a Miscellaneous First Appeal (MFA) before the High Court, praying for the full compensation amount as “my client was in no way responsible for the mishap”. Gowda claimed the said compensation was the “highest ever” awarded in a road accident case in India.
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