Karnataka HC upholds KSRTC driver’s conviction in fatal crash

Key points

• Observing that “a professional driver is duty-bound to exercise heightened caution and is expected to anticipate unexpected events within bus station premises,” the High Court of Karnataka upheld the conviction of a KSRTC driver who fatally knocked down a 75-year-old pedestrian inside the Chickballapura bus station in 2019. Justice V.
• Srishananda made these observations while upholding the conviction of Nagaraj G.H., a resident of Tumakuru, for causing death by negligence under Section 304-A and rash driving under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code, and the one-year sentence imposed by the trial court.
• The petitioner, who was driving a bus, hit Chitrashekharappa near platform 14 while the victim, along with his wife, was searching for a bus;
• he later succumbed to his injuries.
• The court expressed disapproval of the driver’s defence strategy as, instead of explaining the circumstances, he had denied the occurrence of the accident entirely during his statement...