Rs217 million: Mauritius Court orders record compensation to accident victim

It’s the talk of the town and said to be a first in the history of the judiciary: Mauritius insurer Phoenix Insurance (Mauritius) Ltd and two of its clients, Anne Marie Eluinette Lanape and Clifford Pertaub, have been sentenced to pay lawyer Iqbal Moollan, a record compensation of Rs 217 million over a road accident that almost killed him.

The ruling came 19 years after the accident.

Iqbal Moollan, the youngest son of senior lawyer Sir Hamid Moollan, was 35 years old, when he was seriously injured in a road accident.

On 29 April 2004, at about 11.30 pm, Iqbal Moollan was driving his car (E570) on the fast lane of the southbound dual carriageway of the motorway from Port-Louis towards Phoenix.

He had gone past the Reduit roundabout and nearly reached Ebene Bridge (overpass). At the same time, Clifford Pertaub was driving a car owned by Anne Marie Eluinette Lanape (AG 572) in the opposite direction on the northbound dual carriageway of the motorway from St Jean roundabout towards Reduit. 

AG 572 suddenly left its carriageway, crossed the central reservation separating the two dual carriageways to land on the opposite carriageway in the path of Iqbal Moollan’s car. To avoid a head-on collision, the latter had to abruptly swerve to the right. His car crossed the central reservation and the opposite dual carriageway and ended in a ditch in the sugar cane fields bordering the road. 

Two glasses of champagne

Clifford Pertaub later admitted in Court that he was driving without licence and that he had drunk two glasses of champagne. 

Iqbal Moollan fell into a deep coma – struggling between life and death. According to reports, he had suffered a severe cranial traumatism and a spine fracture. He underwent an emergency operation in Mauritius and only regained consciousness after 72 hours. He suffered from some complications, for which he had to be operated again, to remove excess liquid from his brain. He also had a tracheotomy, a surgical procedure in which an incision is made in the front of the neck and a breathing tube is placed into the trachea, also called the windpipe. 

About 2 months later, the accident victim was transferred to the American Hospital of Paris in France for treatment. He was accompanied by a medical team and his relatives. 

After one month, he was then transferred to the Centre de la Chataigneraie, Menucourt for rehabilitation, where he stayed for 6 months from 21 July 2004 to 28 January 2005. He then followed treatment at La Chataigneraie-Convention hospital for some 2 months.

Later, he was taken to an Ayurvedic farm in Kerala, India and eventually to China for further treatment.

The after-effects suffered by the victim as a result of the accident included diplopia (double vision), inability to see or move properly, inability to drive, cognitive disorders, memory problems, extreme tiredness, pain and suffering, inability to practise sports which he did on a regular basis, loss of balance, partial sexual incapacity, a stiff neck and irritability. His permanent incapacity has been assessed at 50%. 

The Supreme Court heard that, over all these years, he also suffered an important professional prejudice as a result of the accident. He had studied at renowned universities, is a qualified lawyer and holds a Master’s degree in business administration. Prior to the accident, he was at the start of a successful practice as a barrister. He was called to the Mauritian Bar in 1999. 

He had corporate clients and was dealing with advisory and transaction works, revenue, commercial and accountancy cases, mergers and acquisitions and had a substantial international ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) practice. He has, however, never been able to resume his activities as before.

Insurance company

According to the ruling, a representative of Phoenix Insurance claimed that nobody had reported the accident or had filled any claim form. He also attempted to prove that the accused’s car was not insured with Phoenix Insurance at the time of the accident.

“I find it hard to believe that car No.AG 572 was insured with defendant No.2 (Phoenix Insurance) for several years prior to and after the accident, but, very conveniently for defendant No.2, not at the time of the accident.”

Judge Chan Kan Cheong.

“It seems somewhat extraordinary that car No.AG 572 would have been insured with another unknown insurance company only for the period when the accident occurred.” 

In his ruling on 30 January 2023, Judge Chan Kan Cheong ordered Phoenix Insurance (Mauritius) Ltd and the two defendants to pay jointly and in solido to the plaintiff damages as follows:- 

• Rs9,569,261.87 + euros 197,568.72 or its equivalent in Mauritian rupee + USD 20,824 or its equivalent in Mauritian rupee, representing expenditure incurred as a result of the road accident; 
• Rs60.5 million, representing actual loss of earnings; 
• Rs134.5 million, representing future loss of earnings; and 
• Rs2.5 million as moral damages.

It all adds up to around Rs217 million.

Source: Supreme Court of Mauritius