UMMI KALSUM BINTI AZIZAN v MOHD AZIMAN BIN MOHD SHARI

Case Significance

A clear application of appellate restraint on quantum: a Sessions Court's damages assessment, made on the evidence and consistent with the Compendium and without double-counting overlapping injuries, will not be disturbed absent a misdirection in principle or a manifestly excessive award.

This High Court decision at Shah Alam is an appeal confined to the quantum of damages awarded by the Sessions Court in a road-accident claim, liability having already been settled and not disputed on appeal. The respondent had been injured in a collision between the vehicle he was travelling in and the vehicle driven by the appellant, and the Sessions Court had apportioned liability 75% to the appellant and 25% to the respondent, a finding not challenged before the High Court. After hearing the witnesses and considering the medical reports, the Sessions Court assessed the respondent's injuries — including abrasion injuries and, on a follow-up medical report, a bent-finger injury said to affect the use of his hand and his ability to work — and a claim for loss of income, and awarded general damages of RM50,000 and special damages of RM288,817.66 with interest. The appellant appealed, contending that the damages were excessive and unsupported by sufficient evidence. Applying the settled principle that an appellate court will interfere with a trial court's assessment of quantum only where there has been a misdirection in principle, a failure to consider a material factor, or an award that is manifestly excessive, the court examined each head of damage. It held that the Sessions Court had assessed the injuries as a whole without double-counting — treating the bent-finger injury as part of the continuing effects of the accident rather than a separate head — and had allowed the abrasion injuries consistently with the Compendium, and that the loss-of-income assessment was a finding of fact based on the evidence. Finding no misdirection and that the overall award fell within the permissible range of judicial discretion, the court held the appeal to be without merit. It dismissed the appeal, maintained the Sessions Court's quantum, and awarded costs of RM5,000, subject to the allocatur fee.