New Delhi, Jan 14: The Supreme Court has ordered the Centre to investigate whether annual increases in compensation are possible in cases of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from hit-and-run accidents. On April 22, the Supreme Court postponed the matter for further review and directed the government to make a suitable conclusion within eight weeks. The highest court pointed out that the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, 1988 stipulates that compensation for fatalities from hit-and-run accidents shall be given at least Rs 2 lakh, or a higher amount that the central government may specify, and that compensation for serious injuries shall be given at least Rs 50,000.The highest court further ordered the police to notify the relatives of those killed in these kinds of accidents about the MV Act’s compensation programme. In its ruling, a bench consisting of Justices A S Oka and Pankaj Mithal observed that, according to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways year-by-year records, there were 55,942 hit-and-run incidents reported in 2016 compared to 67,387 in 2022. Records from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Government of India from 2016 to 2022 make this clear: in 2016, there were 55,942 hit-and-run car accidents; in 2017, there were 65,186; in 2018, there were 69,621; and in 2019, there were 69,621. The number of accidents fell over the COVID-19 era, it stated.The bench also took note of a response made in the Lok Sabha in March of last year by the minister of roads and transportation. “The answer records that in the last five years, there were 660 deaths in hit-and-run cases, and there were 113 injury cases for which compensation of Rs 184.60 lakh was disbursed,” the bench noted in its January 12 ruling. “It is evident that very few victims have benefited from the aforementioned scheme when we compare the number of hit-and-run road accidents that are reported to the number of cases filed for compensation,” the statement stated. The bench observed that victims might not have been informed about the existence of the compensation plan as one of the causes.Over time, money loses its worth. We give the central government instructions to investigate the possibility of yearly, progressive increases in the compensation amounts. The supreme court declared that the federal government must make a decision on this matter within eight weeks of today. After considering comments on the subject of the MV Act’s effective execution regarding the payment of compensation in hit-and-run accident cases, the bench made its decision. The top court has taken up a request asking for the enforcement of traffic safety regulations. In its ruling, the highest court stated that in terms of sub-section (3) of section 161 of the MV Act, the Compensation of Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022 has been brought into existence with effect from April 1, 2022 and it succeeded the Solatium Scheme, 1989. The judge noted the programme provides for setting up of standing committee and district level committees. It further mentioned that the main responsibility of the central standing committee is to conduct regular reviews of the scheme’s operation. “To guarantee that every claimant who is eligible for the plan’s benefits is encouraged to take advantage of it, the standing committee must investigate the reasons why the scheme has not been implemented and order corrective action to be taken. The bench stated that the standing committee must recommend changes to the scheme if it cannot be executed properly without them. It stipulated that the standing committee would provide detailed guidelines for raising public awareness of the programme and sensitising the public to it. “The officer-in-charge of the police station shall inform in writing to the injured or the legal representatives of the deceased, as the case may be, that compensation can be claimed under the scheme if the particulars of the vehicle involved in the accident are not available at the time of registration of the report regarding the accident by the jurisdictional police station and if, after making reasonable efforts, the particulars of the vehicle involved in the accident could not be ascertained by the police within a period of one month from the date of registration of the accident report,” the bench stated.It stated that the injured or the surviving family members of the deceased should be given the jurisdictional claims enquiry officer’s contact information by the police.
