Contributory negligence by driver can't be vicariously attached to passengers: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said contributory negligence on the part of a driver of the vehicle involved in the accident cannot be vicariously attached to the passengers so as to reduce the compensation awarded to the passengers or their legal heirs.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta held a 14-wheeler trailer truck driver and its insurance company as jointly and severally liable to pay the full compensation for having parked the vehicle on the middle of the highway, resulting into the accident in Belagavi on the dead of the night of August 18, 2013 with a car killing four persons.

The truck was left abandoned in the middle of the highway without any warning signs in the form of indicators or parking lights. The collision resulted into the death of the passengers of the car, namely, Sunita, Ashtavinayak Patil, Deepali and the driver Saiprasad Karande at the spot. One of the passengers, namely, Smt Sushma (wife of deceased- Ashtavinayak

Patil) survived the accident, however, sustaining grievous injuries.

The bench said, "Common sense requires that no vehicle can be left parked and unattended in the middle of the road as it would definitely be a traffic hazard posing risk to the other road users."

The court allowed an appeal filed by Sushma and others against the Karnataka High Court's judgment of April 7, 2021, saying the omission by the person in control of the said truck was in clear violation of law.

The court held the High Court's order for deduction of 50% of compensation awarded to the appellant-claimants on account of contributory negligence, as directed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal and affirmed by the High Court, cannot be sustained.

"There shall be no deduction from the compensation payable to the appellant-claimants who shall be entitled to the full compensation as assessed by the Tribunal and modified by the High Court," the bench said.

The bench said the conclusion drawn by the courts below that the driver of the car could have averted the accident by applying the brakes and hence, he was equally negligent and contributed to the accident on the application of principle of last opportunity is ex-facie perverse and cannot be sustained.

The court opined the entire responsibility for the negligence leading to the accident was of the truck owner/driver.

"The view expressed by the High Court that if the driver of the car had been vigilant and would have driven the vehicle carefully by following the traffic rules, the accident may have been avoided is presumptuous on the face of the record as the same is based purely on conjectures and surmises," the bench said.

The bench held that the courts below committed gross error in law while reducing the compensation awarded to the appellant-claimants, being the dependents of the deceased-passengers and Smt Sushma as the claims of these claimants cannot be truncated by attaching the vicarious liability with the driver.