In a ruling, the Supreme Court has held that insurance companies are not liable to compensate the families of individuals who die due to their own rash and negligent driving. The verdict came in response to a plea seeking ₹80 lakh compensation filed by the family members of a man who died in a self-caused car accident.
A bench comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by the wife, son, and parents of N.S. Ravisha, who lost his life in a car accident in Karnataka on June 18, 2014. The court declined to interfere with the Karnataka High Court’s earlier ruling dated November 23, 2024, which had rejected the family’s compensation claim.
“We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment passed by the High Court. Hence, the Special Leave Petition is dismissed,” the Supreme Court said in its order issued on Wednesday.
The accident occurred while Ravisha was driving from Mallasandra village to Arasikere town, accompanied by his father, sister, and her children. According to court findings, Ravisha was driving at high speed, failed to adhere to traffic rules, and lost control of the vehicle, which eventually overturned. He sustained fatal injuries on the spot.
The High Court had held that since the accident was a direct result of Ravisha’s own reckless driving, his legal heirs were not entitled to claim compensation under the law. The court had observed, “The accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the deceased himself, and he being a self-tortfeasor, the legal heirs cannot claim any compensation for his death, otherwise it would amount to a person who committed breach getting the compensation for his own wrongs.”
The ruling reinforces the legal principle that compensation cannot be awarded in cases where the deceased was solely responsible for the accident, even if it results in their death.