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Informist, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the government to bring a scheme by Mar. 14 for cashless treatment of victims of accidents during the "golden hour", including provisions for the creation of funds for the treatment. The apex court said that "no further time" would be granted to the government to bring out the scheme.

 

Golden hour refers to the first hour following an accident when the likelihood of preventing death is the highest by providing prompt medical care.

 

A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih said a copy of the scheme should be placed on record, together with an affidavit from the concerned officer of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways explaining the manner in which the scheme will be implemented.  

 

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had on Tuesday announced the Centre would come up with a modified scheme by March to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide during the golden hour, under which they will be entitled to a maximum amount of INR 150,000 rupees per accident per person. Gadkari had said that the scheme would be applicable to all road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicles on any category of road.

 

Gadkari said that the National Health Authority would be the implementing agency of the scheme, in coordination with police, hospitals and state health agencies. "The broad contours of the pilot programme are -- victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of INR 150,000 per accident per person for a maximum period of seven days from the date of the accident," Gadkari had said.

 

In its order, the top court noted that the Centre had placed a draft concept note prepared by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways regarding the scheme. However, no scheme has been brought into existence, the court said. The petitioner in the case had expressed concern over the government providing only 150,000 rupees in the scheme and the treatment to be given for only seven days. "We find that these two concerns must be addressed while framing the scheme. The scheme must be such that it serves the object of saving lives by providing immediate medical treatment in the golden hour," the apex court said.

 

The provision made in Section 162 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for framing a scheme for providing cashless treatment in the golden hour seeks to uphold and protect the right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution, the court said. Moreover, it is a statutory obligation of the Central Government to frame the scheme, the court said. 

 

The apex court said that more than reasonable time was available to the Centre to frame the scheme. "Once the scheme is framed and its implementation starts, it will save the lives of several injured persons who succumb to injury simply because they do not receive requisite medical treatment during the golden hour," the court said.

 

The top court noted that between Apr. 1 to Aug. 31, 1,662 claimants received compensation under the Compensation of Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022, but 1,026 claims were still pending. The apex court asked the General Insurance Council to process the remaining claims based on documents such as copy of the first information report, post-mortem report, death certificate and other related documents. The court asked the council to complete the work of its portal regarding uploading of documents of victims at the earliest. The top court was hearing a petition raising concerns about road safety.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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