Karnataka HC upholds conviction of KSRTC driver in fatal accident

The Karnataka High Court, observing that “a professional driver is bound to exercise extra care and is expected to anticipate unexpected events in bus station premises”, upheld the conviction of a KSRTC driver who fatally hit a 75-year-old pedestrian at Chickballapura bus station in 2019.

Justice V Srishananda made these observations while upholding the conviction of Nagaraj GH, a resident of Tumakuru, for causing death by negligence under Section 304-A and reckless driving under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code and the one-year sentence imposed by the trial court.

The petitioner, who was driving the bus, bumped into Chitrashekharappa near platform 14 while the victim along with his wife were searching for the bus; he later succumbed to his injuries.

The court expressed its disapproval of the driver’s defense strategy, because instead of explaining the circumstances during the statement recorded under Section 313 of the Criminal Code, he completely denied the occurrence of the accident.

“Since the bus was moving inside the bus station, if the accused had driven the bus with the required speed and care, he could have pressed the brake to avoid hitting Chitrashekharappa. You will not find such an explanation in the statement of the accused. There are apparently no brake marks at the place of the mahazar,” the court said.

Delving into the standard of care expected, the court noted that the accused had to exercise “extraordinary care” precisely because he was driving on the premises of a bus station.

Rejecting the argument that the conviction would cost the petitioner his job and impact on his family, the court ruled that such hardship could not be considered a mitigating circumstance for the custodial sentence to be lifted, ordering him to surrender to serve the remainder of his sentence by May 31.

Published – 20 May 2026 22:48 IST