Preetha Krishnan vs United India Insurance Co. Ltd.; 2025 INSC 1293 - Motor Accident Compensation- Split Multiplier
Motor Accident Compensation - Split multiplier is a concept foreign to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and is not to be used by the Tribunal and/or Courts in calculation of the compensation. [Context: In this case, High Court applied split multiplier on the ground that the deceased would have shortly superannuated from service. Thereafter, there would have been a 50% (approx. reduction) in his monthly take-home pay. -Allowing appeal, SC held: Superannuation from service hardly qualifies as such an exceptional circumstance, which would justify the use of split multiplier. (Para 18)- It is only a natural progression that a person who enters service must also exit at some point in time. The same cannot be taken as a negative circumstance against the deceased person or a person injured severely, leading to incapacitation or permanent disability. (Para 17) ]
Motor Accident Compensation - The income as on the date of death is to be taken to calculate the compensation. (Para 19)
Case Info
Key details
- Case name: Preetha Krishnan & Ors. vs The United India Insurance Co. Ltd.
- Neutral citation: 2025 INSC 1293
- Coram: Justice Sanjay Karol; Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra
- Judgment date: November 6, 2025
- Court: Supreme Court of India (Civil Appellate Jurisdiction)
- Appeal from: High Court of Kerala, judgments dated June 28, 2024 (MACA Nos. 210 & 1219 of 2015) and November 27, 2024 (RP Nos. 1165 & 1187 of 2024)
- Tribunal order: Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Pala, order dated April 2, 2014 in O.P. (M.V.) No. 1105/2012.
Statutes and laws referred
- Motor Vehicles Act, 1988: Sections 166 and 163-A discussed regarding compensation methodology.
Caselaws and citations
- Sarla Verma v. DTC, (2009) 6 SCC 121.
- National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680 (paras 37, 39, 41, 42, 59.4, 59.8).
- N. Jayasree v. Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd., (2022) 14 SCC 712.
- Sumathi v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., 2021 SCC OnLine SC 3697.
- United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Satinder Kaur, (2021) 11 SCC 780 (para 37.12).
- Rajwati alias Rajjo v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1699 (para 34).
- Discussed but distinguished: K.R. Madhusudhan v. Administrative Officer, (2011) 4 SCC 689; Puttamma v. K.L. Narayana Reddy, (2013) 15 SCC 45.
#SupremeCourt holds that “Split Multiplier” Concept should not be used by MACT/Courts in calculation of Motor Accident Compensation. https://t.co/cgCHmafldd pic.twitter.com/1AvYrLmS9s
— CiteCase 🇮🇳 (@CiteCase) November 7, 2025
