The Delhi High Court has held that a driver cannot escape liability for a road accident merely by claiming that the vehicle went out of control while trying to avoid a stray animal, observing that motorists are expected to anticipate hazards and exercise reasonable care.
Justice Anish Dayal made the observations while dismissing an appeal filed by ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company challenging a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) award of ₹1.70 crore to Satish Chandra Gupta, who suffered grievous injuries in a 2014 road accident and died in 2020.
The court rejected the insurer’s argument that the driver was confronted with a sudden danger when a dog came in front of the car, forcing him to swerve and crash into a road divider.
“One cannot simply exonerate the driver from such liability, since it would otherwise open a Pandora’s box of excuses being made for negligent conduct,” the court said in its October 5 judgment.
The case
The case arose from an accident on May 28, 2014, when Gupta was travelling from Dwarka to his home in Chhattarpur in a company-owned car. He was seated in the rear when the vehicle, driven by Sanjay Bhati, crashed into a divider near Chhattarpur Metro station in the Vasant Kunj area. Gupta suffered severe injuries and remained in a coma from the date of the accident until his death on August 22, 2020.
The insurer challenged the MACT’s May 26, 2016, award on several grounds, including that the injured claimant, Gupta, had failed to prove rash and negligent driving, a requirement for a claim under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
The driver had testified that a dog suddenly came in front of the car and that the vehicle hit the divider while he was trying to avoid it. The insurer argued that the driver had acted as a prudent person confronted with a ‘sudden danger’ that was not of his own making and, therefore, could not be held negligent.
‘Drivers must stay alert’
Justice Dayal noted that the concepts of “agony of the moment” and “sudden danger” had been used by courts across the world to describe situations in which a driver is suddenly confronted with a dilemma and forced to take evasive action that may result in an accident.
The judge observed that “road users in India have a propensity to take sudden unpredictable deviations while travelling on the road, triggering alarming situations which a road user may be faced with”.
He said drivers crossing semi-urban or rural roads ought to remain alert to the possibility of stray animals crossing their path.
“The Court is not inclined to accept the appellant/Insurance Company’s plea on the driver not being negligent, due to the ‘agony of the moment’,” the judge said.
Finding no merit in the appeal, the court upheld the compensation award. It directed that the remaining compensation, along with accrued interest, be deposited with the Registrar General and released in a lump sum to Gupta’s legal representatives in view of his death.
Published - October 24, 2026 11:10 pm IST