Accident claim: Karnataka high court frees insurer, fixes liability on bike owner

Bengaluru: In a twist-filled compensation battle stemming from a 2009 road accident, the high court has held that the owner of an "implicated" motorcycle — and not the insurer — must pay enhanced damages to an injured stenographer, after finding evidence of collusion and wrongful vehicle implication.Justice P Sree Sudha, while enhancing the compensation, exonerated ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited from any liability, observing that the case involved a deliberate attempt to rope in an insured vehicle to secure wrongful financial gain.
The case dates back to Aug 30, 2009, when J Subramanya, a stenographer at the Office of the Director, Karnataka Engineer Research Station in Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS), was travelling from Mysuru to Pandavapura. Near Hotel Mayura at Srirangapatna on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Road, his motorcycle was allegedly hit by a Hero Honda bike ridden rashly from the opposite direction. In his first complaint filed the very next day, he named one Suresh as the rider of the offending vehicle (KA-11-S-9918) and claimed serious injuries that kept him off work for months.However, the narrative shifted dramatically just days later. A second complaint, filed on Sept 6, 2009 by a relative, cited an entirely different vehicle (KA-11-S-0018) and another rider, S Shivakumar, as being involved in the crash, raising suspicions about the authenticity of the claim.Initially, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Pandavapura awarded a modest Rs 79,850 with 6% interest in 2013 against Subramanya's claim of Rs 20 lakh. The insurer challenged the award, alleging fraud, while Subramanya sought higher compensation.After examining the records, Justice Sree Sudha concluded that the later implication of a different, insured vehicle was not accidental but intentional. "It is a clear case of implication of another vehicle which is having insurance to gain wrongfully, done in collusion with the owner of the vehicle. Therefore, this court finds it reasonable to exonerate the insurance company," the judge observed.Despite the findings, the court acknowledged that Subramanya had indeed suffered injuries and loss of income, having been unable to work for over five months. Taking this into account, the court enhanced the compensation to Rs 2.6 lakh with 6% annual interest. With this, the entire liability has now been fastened on the owner of the implicated motorcycle, SN Raghavendra — bringing a long-running, contested claim to a decisive and cautionary close.