Hit & Run Accidents: SC Issues Directions To Ensure Victims Are Informed About Compensation Scheme
|The Supreme Court has issued directions to ensure that the victims and their legal representatives in hit and run accident cases are informed about the availability of the compensation scheme and that they are assisted in filing the claims.
The Court pointed out that Police in a hit-and-run accident must inform the victim or their legal representatives about the availability of the compensation scheme under Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal observed, “If the Police conclude that it is a case of hit and run accident, the Police must inform the victim or the legal representatives of the victim, as the case may be, about the availability of the Scheme. There are cases where the Police, as well as the Claims Enquiry Officer, are aware of the fact that a hit and run accident has occurred. However, no efforts are made to ensure that the persons entitled to seek compensation file their claims.”
AOR and Amicus Curiae Gaurav Agrawal represented the petitioner
Section 161 of the MV Act mandates for the Central Government to provide compensation in case of hit-and-run motor accidents under the Compensation of Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022 (the Scheme).
The Supreme Court directed the Central Government to assess whether the amount of compensation under Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which currently stands at Rs. 2 lakhs for death and Rs. 50 thousand for grievous injury resulting from hit-and-run accidents, should be progressively increased annually since the value of money diminishes over time
The Court discussed the issue raised where victims or their legal representatives may be unaware of whether an accident qualifies as a hit and run. If the police determine it to be a hit-and-run accident, they must inform the victims or their legal representatives about the Compensation of Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme's availability. The Court noted, “There are cases where the Police, as well as the Claims Enquiry Officer, are aware of the fact that a hit and run accident has occurred. However, no efforts are made to ensure that the persons entitled to seek compensation file their claims."
Additionally, within one month of the accident, the officer in charge of the Police Station should forward the First Accident Report (FAR) to the Claims Enquiry Officer, including names of victims and legal representatives if available. If no claim application is received within one month, the Claims Enquiry Officer should inform the District Legal Service Authority to assist claimants.
In view of this, the Supreme Court directed compliance reports by concerned authorities for review of the progress on April 22, 2024.
Cause Title: S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India & Ors. (2024 INSC 37)
Appearance:
Petitioner: AOR Gaurav Agrawal and Krishna Kumar
Respondent: AAG Tapesh Kumar Singh and Amit Anand Tiwari; AORs Gurmeet Singh Makker, Viresh B. Saharya, Prerna Mehta, G. Indira, Pradeep Misra, Jaikriti S. Jadeja, Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, Deepanwita Priyanka, Nishe Rajen Shonker, Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, V. Shyamohan, Satyajeet Kumar, V. N. Raghupathy, Neeraj Shekhar, Gaurav Agrawal, M.P. Vinod, and Astha Sharma; Advocates Daleep Dhyani, Nitin Lonkar, Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Polanki Gowtham, Anu K Joy, Karun Sharma, Kishan Chand Jain, Rajesh Kumar, Manish Singhvi, Shubhangi Agarwal, Azmat Hayat Amanullah, Santosh Kumar-I, Siddhesh Kotwal, Ana Upadhyay, Sandeep Sharma, Rajesh S. Pandian, Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Manendra Pal Gupta, Sumit Kumar, Gaurav Agrawal, M.P. Vinod, Atul Shankar Vinod, Aditya Pratap Singh, Vivek Kishore, Raghvendra Kumar, Anand Kumar Dubey, K. Enatoli Sema, Limayinla Jamir, Ruchira Gupta, Shishir Deshpande, Aravindh S., Abbas, and Sabarish Subramanian.