The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for the inordinate delay in framing a statutory scheme for providing cashless treatment to motor accident victims during the golden hour - the first critical hour where medical help is most useful.
A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan took strong exception after the Secretary, appearing via video conference, cited consultations and bottlenecks with the General Insurance Council (GIC) as reasons for the 3-year delay.
He tendered an apology for the same but the Bench was not impressed and warned of contempt of court action if the matter was not resolved immediately.
“Firstly, remember you are in contempt. We will issue contempt notice to you first. What is this going on? Are you not supposed to come to the Court when you can’t comply with an order? Just now you tell us when you will frame the scheme,” the Court said.
The Court expressed dissatisfaction when the Secretary informed that a draft scheme had been prepared in December 2024 but consultations with stakeholders, especially the GIC, had delayed the process.
“You don’t care for your own statutes. We have completed three years of the section still you are struggling to make a scheme. Are you acting for the welfare of the common man?” the Court remarked.
Upon the Secretary submitting that the draft could be filed by tomorrow, the Bench was unconvinced, noting the alarming casualness of the approach.
“Can you be so casual? Three years after, you are saying you hit roadblocks etc. You have done nothing. Why you enacted this provision?” the Court asked.
When the Secretary attempted to explain that a pilot had been commenced in certain States last year, the Court pointed out that victims were still dying on highways without receiving golden hour treatment.
“People are dying on highways. There is no facility there. No golden hour treatment. What is the use of constructing highways?” the Court asked.
The Bench was categorical that the delay could not be excused by blaming GIC.
“You don’t care about the orders of the Court. If you were serious, you would have asked for extension of time. What is the justification? We will issue contempt notice. We don’t know where you’re stuck,” the Court said.
The Bench directed the Centre to submit the draft scheme immediately, and also said it would exercise its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to enforce it if necessary.
The case stemmed from a writ petition filed by Dr. S. Rajaseekaran, highlighting road accident deaths and seeking effective implementation of statutory mechanisms to save lives during the golden hour.
On January 8, 2025, the Supreme Court had directed the Central government to frame a scheme under Section 162(2) of the MV Act by March 14, 2025, observing that once implemented, it could save the lives of several injured persons who succumb to injuries due to lack of timely treatment.
Section 162 mandates the creation of a scheme for cashless treatment during the golden hour to uphold the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Despite a draft concept note being prepared, no final scheme was notified.
On April 9, the Court had expressed serious displeasure, noting that this was a “very serious breach and violation” of statutory and constitutional obligations.
When the matter came up for hearing today, the Court also pulled up the GIC whose counsel had submitted an application raising objections about integration with the Transport Network System (TNS).
“It is none of your business to submit this application. If Central government has designed a scheme they will implement it. Are you withdrawing this application or should we impose cost?” the Court warned.
Observing that GIC was creating “roadblocks” in the implementation of the scheme, the Bench said:
“You will keep on making objections and people will keep dying due to lack of golden hour treatment. The scheme has to be framed. How it will work, time will tell us. Constant changes will be needed. That does not mean the scheme will not be implemented.”
The GIC counsel ultimately sought permission to withdraw its application, which the Court allowed.
The Secretary assured the Court that with the objections now withdrawn, the scheme would be rolled out immediately. He stated that the scheme would be brought into force within a week.
The Court recorded in its order that despite Section 162(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act coming into effect on April 1, 2022, the Central government had failed to frame a scheme for cashless treatment for over three years. It directed that the notified scheme be placed on record by May 9.
The matter will next be heard on May 13.
The Court also warned that if compliance remains elusive, it would not hesitate to proceed under the Contempt of Courts Act.
