Ravi Kapur v. State of Rajasthan, 2012
In the very famous case of Ravi Kapur v. State of Rajasthan the principle/doctrine of res ipsa loquitur was discussed in detail. This is the case of an appeal against the judgment of the High Court of Jaipur Bench. The facts of the case were as follows:
“Sukhdeep Singh was going to attend the marriage of his brother along with his family. They were going in two jeeps and a Maruti car. On their way, they met with an accident with a bus that was coming from the opposite direction at a very high speed. Due to this eight-person died on the spot. According to one of the witnesses, the bus was driven by the accused Ravi Kapur and after the accident, he ran away from the spot. The trial court held that the prosecution was not able to prove the liability of Ram Kapur and hence he was acquitted by the trial court. However, the decision of the High Court comes against the trial court and its decision was backed by the reasoning which includes the principle of res ipsa loquitur, negligence, reasonable care.”
The principle of res ipsa loquitur serves two purposes – it establishes the negligence on the part of the accused party and secondly, it is applied in the cases where the claimant is able to prove that there is an accident but is not able to prove how the accident occurred. The High Court by applying the principle of res ipsa loquitur found Ram Kapur liable under Section 304A of the IPC. The same case when went to the Supreme Court the court held that the decision of the High Court was right and the appellant was held liable ultimately.