The Supreme Court has awarded ₹91.39 lakh in compensation to a 20-year-old engineering student who lost his leg in a 2017 road accident caused by a car's sudden braking on a busy highway.

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar held that the car driver’s abrupt stop without warning was the primary cause of the accident and increased the compensation, partly allowing the student’s appeal.

"On a highway, where high speed is expected, it is the responsibility of the driver to signal or warn before stopping. In this case, no such precaution was taken," the Court observed.

The incident took place when the appellant, Mohammed Hakkim, was riding a motorcycle and collided with a car that had stopped suddenly. He was thrown off the bike and a bus coming from behind ran over his leg, leading to amputation.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) had initially awarded ₹91.62 lakh but deducted 20% for contributory negligence. The Madras High Court later reduced the compensation to ₹58.53 lakh, apportioning 40% liability to the car driver, 30% to the bus driver, and 30% to the appellant.

The Supreme Court revised this distribution, increasing the car driver’s liability to 50% and reducing the student’s contributory negligence to 20%. It also restored key compensation components, including ₹18 lakh for attendant charges, ₹5 lakh each for future medical expenses and loss of marital prospects, and recalculated the loss of income at ₹60.48 lakh.

The Court ordered the total enhanced compensation of ₹91,39,253, with 7.5% annual interest, to be paid within four weeks. The liability is to be shared by the insurers of the car and bus in the ratio of 50:30.

Case Title: S. Mohammed Hakkim vs. National Insurance Co. Ltd. & Ors.