Supreme Court Intervenes on Delayed Implementation of Cashless Treatment for Road Accident Victims

By: Abhishek Jat, Advocate

The apex judicial body of India has expressed strong disapproval regarding the Central Government's failure to establish a mandated framework for providing immediate cashless medical assistance to victims of road accidents during the critical "golden hour" following traumatic injuries. During proceedings on April 9, 2025, the bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan characterized this oversight as a "serious breach" of both judicial directives and statutory obligations under Section 162(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

In an unprecedented move, the Court has summoned the Secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to appear via video conference on April 28, 2025, to account for this implementation deficiency. This directive follows the government's non-compliance with a previous judicial order from January 8, 2025, which had established March 14, 2025, as the deadline for formulating the requisite scheme, with submission details due by March 21, 2025.

Justice Oka emphasized the gravity of the situation by indicating the possibility of contempt proceedings if substantive progress remains absent. The provision in question, which became enforceable on April 1, 2022, specifically mandates the development of institutional mechanisms for ensuring prompt medical intervention during the "golden hour" - statutorily defined as the 60-minute window post-injury when timely treatment maximizes survival probabilities.

The litigation emerged from a petition filed by an orthopedic specialist highlighting road accident fatalities, with subsequent applications seeking enforcement of Section 162. Concurrently, the Court addressed procedural inefficiencies in processing claims related to hit-and-run motor accident cases, instructing the General Insurance Council to document and present current statistics on pending applications.

Further judicial directives include instructions to Transport Department Chief Secretaries regarding systematic digitization of claim details, and the formation of district-level Monitoring Committees comprising Legal Services Authority representatives and designated officers to oversee victim compensation implementation, with compliance reports due by July 15, 2025.

The Court's intervention underscores the critical importance of establishing effective administrative frameworks to mitigate preventable fatalities resulting from delayed medical response following road accidents.