AIR 2003 SUPREME COURT 4182 ::2003 AIR SCW 5505 ::(2003) 3 ACC 551 ::(2003) 12 IndLD 81 ::(2004) 1 WLC(SC)CVL 40 ::2004 (1) UJ (SC) 350 ::2004 UJ(SC) 1 350 ::(2004) 3 CivLJ 84 ::2004 SCC(Cri) 252 ::2003 (8) SCC 731 ::(2003) 4 RecCivR 764 ::(2003) 9 Scale 2 ::(2004) 1 ACJ 53 ::(2004) 1 TAC 3 ::2003 (4) CurCC 220 ::(2004) 2 AllMR 316 (SC) ::(2004) 1 AndhWR 83 ::(2004) 54 All LR 427 ::2004 (2) Bom CR 75 ::2004 (1) All WC 176 ::2003 (3) BLJR 2325 ::2004 (2) MPLJ 267 ::(2004) 2 Mah LJ 668 ::2004 (2) MadLW 15 ::(2003) 3 Mad LJ 657 ::2004 (1) MadLJ82 ::2004 (1) Pun LR 446 ::(2004) WritLR 183 ::2004 (1) Bom LR 308 ::2004 Bom LR 1 308 ::2003 (6) SLT 706 ::2003 (7) Supreme 492 ::(2004) 13 AllIndCas 472 (SC) ::(2004) SC Cr R 1316 ::(2004) 1 CurLJ(CCR) 361 ::2004 (3) SRJ 291 ::(2003) 8 JT 108 (SC)

Supreme Court Of India

(From : Bombay)*

Hon'ble Judge(s): Doraiswamy Raju, Arijit Pasayat , JJ

(A) Motor Vehicles Act (59 of 1988) , S.168— Accident - When is the result of contributory negligence. The act or omission amounting to want of ordinary care or in defiance of duty or obligation on the part of the complaining party which conjointly with the other party's negligence was the proximate cause of the accident renders it one to be the result of contributory negligence.(Para 7) Negligence is not an absolute term, but is a relative one; it is rather a comparative term. No absolute standard can be fixed and no mathematically exact formula can be laid down by which negligence or lack of it can be infallibly measured in a given case. What constitutes negligence varies under different conditions and in determining whether negligence exists in a particular case, or whether a mere act or course of conduct amounts to negligence, all the attending and surrounding facts and circumstances have to be taken into account. It is absence of care according to circumstances. To determine whether an act would be or would not be negligent, it is relevant to determine if any reasonable man would foresee that the act would cause damage or not. The omission to do what the law obligates or even the failure to do anything in a manner, mode or method envisaged by law would equally and per se constitute negligence on the part of such person. If....