Insurance firm not liable to pay compensation for death of persons driving rashly: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that the insurance companies would not be liable under the Motor Vehicles Act to compensate families of individuals who die as a result of their own rash and reckless driving.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan declined to grant Rs 80 lakh compensation sought by the wife, son, and parents of a man, who had died while driving a car at high speed.

The appellants approached the apex court against an order passed by the Karnataka High Court. The high court in November last year had declined to entertain a plea filed by the deceased legal heirs seeking compensation.

The apex court, in its order, said: “We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment passed by the high court. Hence, the Special Leave Petition is dismissed".

In June 2014, one N S Ravisha was driving from Mallasandra village to Arasikere town when the accident took place.

His father, sister and her children were travelling in the car. The high court found that the car was driven by Ravisha in a negligent manner and he lost control over the vehicle which toppled on the road. Ravisha sustained fatal injuries in the accident.

The high court had said that the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the deceased himself, therefore the legal heirs cannot claim any compensation for his death, otherwise it would amount to a person who committed the breach getting the compensation for his own wrongs.