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Reena v. The Managing Director, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 889Decided 19 Aug 2026
Civil Appeal Nos. 10755-10758 of 2026
Justice S.V.N. Bhatti · Justice N.V. Anjaria

Background

In the early hours of 14 October 2005, a Hyundai Santro car carrying the appellant, her husband Nandan Shet, her mother-in-law Geetha Shet, and a family friend collided with a KSRTC bus in Kunigal, Karnataka. The husband, mother-in-law, and friend died; the appellant survived with injuries. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded modest compensation, and the appellant appealed to the Karnataka High Court, which enhanced some amounts but also found the deceased husband 50% contributorily negligent, halving the compensation for his death. The appellant (arguing the case in person before the Supreme Court) challenged both the finding of contributory negligence and the low quantum of compensation.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court had erred in finding contributory negligence against the deceased husband. It wrongly treated the bus driver's criminal acquittal as an "honourable" acquittal (it was actually only a benefit-of-doubt acquittal), improperly relied solely on a post-accident scene sketch to infer negligence despite settled precedent that sketches alone cannot establish contributory negligence, and ignored the presumptive evidentiary value of the FIR and chargesheet, which pointed to the bus driver's rash driving. The Court restored the Tribunal's finding of 100% negligence by the bus driver. It also allowed the claimant's application to bring additional evidence on record (bank records and business invoices showing higher income), despite the delay, given the welfare purpose of the Motor Vehicles Act and the pendency of litigation for 21 years, and recalculated the deceased's realistic monthly income as Rs. 70,000 rather than the Rs. 20,000 fixed by the Tribunal/High Court. Applying the standard multiplier method with future prospects, the Court raised the total compensation for the husband's death to Rs. 50,81,876, with 6% interest from the date of filing, and confirmed (with adjusted apportionment against KSRTC alone) the compensation for the other claims.

Lesson Learnt

In motor accident cases, a bare post-accident scene sketch cannot by itself be used to fix contributory negligence, and a criminal acquittal on benefit of doubt is not the same as an "honourable" acquittal exonerating a driver. Courts must weigh the FIR, chargesheet, and oral evidence together, and claimants can seek to bring relevant income-proof documents on record even late, given the compensatory and welfare purpose of the Motor Vehicles Act.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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