SC orders insurance firm to pay Rs 1.41 cr to man in coma for 8 years

The court ordered Reliance General Insurance to pay the amount with interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of filing the claim petition

The Supreme Court has ordered an insurance company to pay enhanced compensation of more than Rs 1.41 cr to a Deutsche Bank employee who remained in a coma even after years of road accident in Bengaluru in 2013.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna partly allowed an appeal filed by Benson George through her mother against the Karnataka High Court's order which had increased compensation from Rs 94,37,300 to Rs 1,24,94,333.

The top court noted the petitioner suffered prolonged hospitalisation and multiple brain injuries and that he was still in a coma due to the accident in 2013. The claimant was just 29-year-old at the time of the mishap.

So the High Court erred in awarding him just Rs 2 lakh compensation under the head of pain, shock and suffering which should be enhanced to Rs 10 lakh, the bench said.

The top court also enhanced the amount of compensation under the head loss of amenities and from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

"In the facts and circumstances of the present case when the claimant is in coma even after a period of eight long years and that he will have to be permanently bedridden during his entire life, the amount of compensation awarded under the head loss of amenities and happiness of Rs 1 lakh only is unreasonable and meagre," it said.

The court ordered Reliance General Insurance Co Ltd to pay Rs 1,41,94,333 with interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the date of filing the claim petition till realisation of the amount.

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