No insurance payout for reckless driving deaths, says Supreme Court

Insurance companies are not liable to pay compensation to families of individuals who die as a result of their own rash and reckless driving, the Supreme Court has said.

A Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan refused to grant Rs 80 lakh compensation sought by the wife, son and parents of a man who died while driving a car at high speed.

Refusing to interfere with the Karnataka High Court’s November 23, 2024, order dismissing the plea filed by the legal heirs of the deceased claiming compensation, the Bench on Wednesday said, “We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment passed by the high court. Hence, the Special Leave Petition is dismissed."

While driving his car from Mallasandra village to Arasikere town on June 18, 2014, NS Ravisha met with an accident. His father, sister and her children were also travelling in the car. The court concluded that Ravisha drove the car in a negligent manner without following traffic rules and lost control over the vehicle, leading to the accident. Ravisha sustained fatal injuries in the accident.

The high court had held that because “the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the deceased himself and he being self-tort-feasor, 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."

India