In Mohammad Hanif Jainum Khalifa v. State of Karnataka, the Supreme Court held that a bus driver cannot be held criminally negligent merely because a passenger falls while alighting if the driver moved the bus only after receiving the conductor’s signal. The case arose from a 2011 accident in which a passenger suffered fatal injuries after allegedly falling from a KSRTC bus while getting down. The Court found that the conductor had signalled the driver to move only after passengers had alighted. Emphasizing the functional division of responsibilities in public transport, the Court observed that a driver is expected to focus on driving and is entitled to rely on the conductor’s instructions regarding passenger movement. It stated that a driver cannot reasonably be expected to repeatedly turn back and personally verify whether all passengers have safely disembarked. The Court reiterated that the mere occurrence of an accident does not automatically establish criminal negligence under Sections 279 or 304A IPC. Since the prosecution failed to prove rashness or negligence beyond reasonable doubt, the driver’s conviction was set aside and he was acquitted.