New Delhi, Sep 3 (FN Agency) Stressing on the need for cashless treatment of road accident victims, the Supreme Court on Monday directed all state governments to take immediate steps to implement Section 136 A of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, which pertains to the electronic monitoring and enforcement of road safety. A bench comprising Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih said that Section 136A was an innovative provision designed to help state governments enforce discipline on national and state highways and urban cities. The Court also said that it will issue directions for providing cashless treatment to victims of road accidents and will formulate a mechanism so that the General Insurance Corporation of India can make online transfers of compensation to the accounts of entitled persons.
The Court passed this order in a writ petition filed by Dr. S. Rajaseekaran, Chairman and Head of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore on the issue of road accident deaths. The Bench also directed the state governments to ensure compliance with Rule 167A(A) of Central Motor Vehicle Rules by issuing challans based on footage from electronic enforcement devices. As per Section 136A, the state governments have to ensure electronic monitoring and enforcement of road safety on national highways, state highways, and roads in urban areas with a population prescribed by the Central Government. The Central Government has to make rules for electronic monitoring and enforcement including speed cameras, closed-circuit television cameras, speed guns, body wearable cameras and other technology. The Bench said, that Section 136A will help all the state governments in ensuring that road discipline is followed and the provisions of MV Act and Rules are scrupulously followed. “If section 136A is implemented, the state machinery will get data of the vehicles and individuals which are offending the provisions of MV act and Rules so that those violating the provisions can be prosecuted,” the bench held.
The bench specifically directed the state governments of Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala to report on the steps taken to comply with Section 136A of the MV Act in terms of Rule 167A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1988. The Court directed these states to submit their reports to the amicus curiae by December 6, 2024. The Court scheduled the matter to review these reports on December 13, 2024. The bench said that it will issue further directions to other state governments to ensure nationwide compliance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. Rule 167A of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1988 inserted by the seventh amendment in 2021, provides guidelines for implementing Section 136A. It provides that electronic enforcement devices used for issuing challans must have an approval certificate from a designated authority of the state government, certifying the device’s accuracy and proper operation. The rule also mandates that these devices be placed in high-risk and high-density corridors and critical junctions in major cities with more than one million population, including 132 notified cities, to monitor traffic violations effectively.
According to Rule 167A, footage from electronic enforcement devices can be used to issue challans for various offences, including over-speeding, stopping or parking in unauthorized locations, not wearing protective gear, jumping red lights, driving against the authorized flow of traffic, and other violations as specified under the MV Act and rules. The Court said that it has already appointed a committee, known as the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, to oversee road safety measures. The Court said that the committee can monitor the implementation of Section 136A and Rule 167A, taking into account the views of all stakeholders. The Court also considered the issue of cashless treatment to victims of road accidents as well as the formulation of a mechanism so that the General Insurance Corporation of India can make online transfers of compensation to the accounts of persons held entitled. Last week the Court assured that it will also pass separate directions to implement a statutory scheme for compensation and cashless treatment for road accident victims under section 162(2) of the MV Act.