The Supreme Court set aside the conviction of a KSRTC bus driver, holding that following a conductor’s signal to move the vehicle cannot by itself amount to criminal negligence. The Court ruled that a driver acting on the conductor’s instructions performs a normal duty and cannot be faulted without evidence of recklessness.
The Supreme Court of India has held that a passenger bus driver cannot be treated as criminally negligent or reckless for starting the vehicle after the conductor gives indicative signals. A Bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice N.V. Anjaria set aside the concurrent convictions of a driver employed with the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). The Court reasoned that relying on the conductor’s whistle to start the bus is a normal and natural conduct for a duty-bound driver.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court acquitted Mohammad Hanif Jainum Khalifa, who had been convicted under Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, along with offences under Section 134 read with Section 187 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
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The ruling highlights that, where the driver is expected to act on the conductor’s instructions, attributing negligence to the driver for a subsequent accident involving passengers is not logical.
Background of the Case
The appellant worked as a driver for a KSRTC bus. On April 17, 2011 (around 3:30 PM), the informant Shamra Yalu Mane (PW1), along with his sister-in-law Shobha (deceased) and her mother Housabai (PW4), boarded the bus for travel from Athani to their home at village Mangasuli.
Around 4:30 PM, when the bus stopped near Mallayya Temple for passengers to disembark, the bus conductor whistled to halt the vehicle. While passengers were in the act of getting down, the bus began to move. As a result, Shobha fell, sustained severe head injuries, and later died. An FIR was registered based on the complaint, naming the driver/appellant.
Trial Court (Dec. 26, 2015): The 1st Addl. Civil Judge & JMFC, Athani convicted the driver. The court held that moving the bus before passengers could safely alight amounts to rash and negligent driving. The driver received:
- Four months’ simple imprisonment under Section 279 IPC
- Six months’ imprisonment under Section 304A IPC
The decision relied on testimony of PW1 (informant), PW4 (mother of the deceased), and PW5 (motorcyclist eyewitness).
Sessions Court: The VII Addl. Dist. & Sessions Judge (Belagavi, sitting at Chikodi) rejected the driver’s criminal appeal and upheld the conviction.
High Court of Karnataka (Dharwad Bench): In revision, the High Court partially allowed the petition on March 25, 2025. Applying the doctrine of merger, it set aside the separate sentence under Section 279 IPC, but retained the conviction and the sentence under Section 304A IPC.
The driver therefore approached the Supreme Court.
Arguments Before the Supreme Court
Prosecution: The State argued that the driver moved the bus in a rash and negligent manner while the deceased was mid-alighting. It supported this with statements from the family members and the motorcyclist who claimed to have witnessed the fall.
Defence: The defence submitted that the deceased attempted to get off in a hurried manner, causing her own fall. It also emphasized that the driver stopped and restarted the bus strictly in response to the conductor’s indicative signals.
Supreme Court’s Analysis
The Supreme Court examined the evidence especially the statement of the conductor, Kalludeppa Muthappa Batakurki (PW6). In his examination-in-chief, the conductor testified:
“On the said date when the passengers asked me to stop the said bus near the cross, and I gave the signal for stopping the bus by whistling. And on my whistling the accused have stopped the bus and the passengers have got down from the bus. And after the passengers got down from the bus, I have told to the accused to move the bus, and while the accused was driving the bus, I heard the passengers the screaming noise and when I looked into,…”
The Court noted that in a passenger bus, the conductor regulates movement and the driver is expected to act on the conductor’s whistle/bell signals. Since the driver must focus on the road, dependence on these indicators is part of normal operation.
Writing the judgment, Justice Anjaria observed:
“When the appellant accused had followed the instructions of the conductor in stopping and moving the bus, which the appellant was duty-bound to do, it would be both unreasonable and illogical to attribute any negligence on his part.”
The Court further added:
“The appellant driver was not expected to turn his head back and to see himself whether the passengers had alighted. His dependence on the signal of whistling to start the bus was a normal and natural conduct.”
To explain negligence, the Supreme Court referred to Ravi Kapur v. State of Rajasthan (2012) 9 SCC 284, which discusses negligence as a legal concept depending on facts. The Court quoted:
“Negligence is a specific tort and in any given circumstances is the failure to exercise that care which the circumstances demand. What amounts to negligence depends on the facts of each particular case. It may consist in omitting to do something which ought to be done or in doing something which ought to be done either in a different manner or not at all. Where there is no duty to exercise care, negligence in the popular sense has no legal consequence…”
On culpable rashness and culpable negligence, it held that punishment under Section 304A IPC requires proof of the requisite mental element such as a “deliberation” risking harm. In the present case, the driver acted bona fide on the conductor’s instructions.
Regarding “recklessness”, the Court stated:
“Recklessness is perhaps a higher degree of carelessness. One acts reckless when one conducts himself regardless or heedless of the possible harmful consequences of one’s act.”
Since the driver’s act of moving the bus followed the conductor’s whistle, it reflected “thoughtfulness of the mind” and could not be labeled reckless. The Court also relied on State of Karnataka v. Satish (1998) 8 SCC 493, emphasizing that rashness/negligence cannot be assumed solely due to the occurrence of an accident; it must be proven through surrounding circumstances.
Finally, the Court applied a “common sense” approach:
“The dictum of common sense often guides the process of interpretation and application of law, for, the law is also common sense when exposed to certain set of facts and circumstances. In natural exposition, the law becomes common sense.”
On that basis, the Supreme Court concluded that there was no solid evidence that the driver behaved rashly or negligently. It also noted that the deceased may have slipped while alighting due to her own lack of adequate care.
Supreme Court’s Decision
The Supreme Court concluded that the trial court, appellate court, and the High Court committed a concurrent manifest error in convicting the driver.
Allowing the appeal, the Supreme Court:
- Set aside the High Court’s order dated March 25, 2025
- Held Mohammad Hanif Jainum Khalifa not guilty
- Acquitted him of offences under Sections 279 and 304A IPC
- Directed his immediate release
Case Title: Mohammad Hanif Jainum Khalifa v. The State of Karnataka
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