SC quashes case against Toyota Kirloskar directors

The Supreme Court Thursday quashed a criminal case against the directors of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the Indian arm of Toyota Motor Corp, as it awarded a compensation of Rs.15 lakh to the family of the driver of a Toyota Fortuner SUV who was killed in an accident in November 2012 in Uttar Pradesh.

The court also awarded compensation of Rs.10 lakh to the owner of the car who too was injured in the accident.

However, the bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu, Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice A.K. Sikri quashed the criminal case filed against all the directors of the company.

The court also said it would not be treated as a precedent.

The owner of the car, Gautam Sharma, had alleged that the non-deployment of the airbags had led to the death of the driver and his being injured.

Sharma had filed a police complaint under section 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

He had named the directors of Toyota Kirloskar Motor - Atul C. Kirloskar, Vikram S. Kirloskar, Shekar Vishwanathan and Sandeep Singh - in the police complaint.