Supreme Court clears KSRTC driver over alighting passenger’s death, says he moved bus on conductor’s signal | Legal News
4 min readBengaluruJun 2, 2026 01:23 PM IST The Supreme Court has acquitted a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) driver convicted for causing the death of a passenger after he moved the bus while she was still alighting. A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N V Anjaria on May 27 allowed an appeal filed by Mohammed Hanif Jainum Khalifa and said, “When appellant accused had followed instructions of 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 bench also highlighted that the conductor signals the driver when it is appropriate to start and restart the bus after a stop. The driver, who would otherwise concentrate on driving, would depend on the conductor’s indications, signals, or whistling to regulate the vehicle’s movement. The court also said, “The appellant driver was not expected to turn his head back and to see for himself whether the passengers had alighted. His dependence on the signal of …
