Is there provision for emergency care on highways, SC asks Centre
The Supreme Court on Monday (April 28, 2025) asked whether the government was really working for the welfare of the common man by constructing huge highways without providing any facilities for emergency medical care for road accident victims.
'Can you be so casual? Are you not serious about this provision? People are dying in road accidents. You are constructing huge highways but people are dying there because there is no facility. There is no scheme for golden hour treatment. What is the use of constructing so many highways?' Justice A.S. Oka asked the Centre.
The sharp comments from the Bench, which included Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, came while hearing a case over the delay in the implementation of the cashless scheme for treating road accident victims.
In a judgment in January, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to immediately frame a scheme for the cashless medical treatment of road accident victims during golden hour when their near and dear ones were not around and there may not be anyone to help them with money to pay for critical care.
'Golden hour' is the 60 minutes following a traumatic injury when there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.
The Court had noted that Section 162 of the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act had come into force on April 1, 2022. Yet, the government had not framed a scheme for its seamless implementation on the ground. Section 162 provides that the insurance companies must provide for treatment of road accident victims, including during golden hour, in accordance with a scheme which has to be made under the MV Act.
'Section 162 is crucial in the present scenario where motor accident cases are ever-increasing,' Justice Oka had underscored in the judgment.
'You are in contempt. You have not bothered to seek extension of time. What is this going on? You tell us when you will frame the scheme? You don't care for your own statutes. This is one of the welfare provisions. Three years (since) this provision has come into place. Are you really working for the welfare of the common man?' the Bench asked on Monday.
The Bench asked for the notified scheme to be placed on record by May 9. It posted the case on May 13.
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