The Supreme Court has said insurance companies are
not liable to pay compensation to the families of individuals who die as a
result of their own rash and reckless driving.
A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan
refused to grant ?80 lakh compensation sought by the wife, son and parents of a
man who died while driving a car at high speed.
The top court refused to interfere with the
Karnataka High Court's order dated November 23 last year which had dismissed
the plea filed by the deceased legal heirs claiming compensation.
"We are not inclined to interfere with the
impugned judgment passed by the high court. Hence, the Special Leave Petition
is dismissed," the bench said in an order passed on Wednesday.
On June 18, 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 court had found that Ravisha drove the car in a
negligent manner without following traffic rules and lost control over the
vehicle which toppled on the road. 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.