Police Must Inform 'Hit & Run' Accident Victims About Compensation Scheme, Centre Must Consider Increasing Amount : Supreme Court

Taking note of the dismal rate of grant of compensation under the scheme formulated by the Central Government for the victims of 'hit and run' accidents, the Supreme Court has issued a slew of directions.

As per the mandate of Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, the Central Government has framed the Compensation of Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022 which is effective from April 1, 2022. As per this scheme, compensation of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 50,000 is payable for deaths and injuries respectively arising out of road accidents where the offending vehicle is not identified.

However, the number of people who avail the compensation under the scheme is very low. The Court noted that although there were 67,387 hit and run accidents in the year 2022, the number of claims raised under the hit-and-run scheme during the financial year 2022-23 were only 205, out of which 95 were settled. The documents from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways showed that t in the last five years, there were 660 deaths in hit and run cases, and there were 113 injury cases for which compensation of 184.60 Lakhs was disbursed.

"If we compare the number of hit and run road accidents reported and the number of cases registered for seeking compensation, what stares at the face is that negligible number of victims have taken advantage of the said scheme," said the bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal.

The bench surmised that one reason could be the lack of knowledge amongst the victims about the scheme. The Court said that in a hit-and-run case, the police must inform the victims about this 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. An appropriate direction will have to be issued,which will ensure that the victims or the legal representatives of the victims, as the case may be, who are entitled to seek compensation under the Scheme, are informed about the availability of the Scheme and that they are assisted in filing the claims," the bench observed.

The bench issued the following directions :

a) 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 accident report, 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. The contact details such as e-mail ID and office address of the jurisdictional Claims Enquiry Officer shall be provided by the Police to the injured or the legal representatives of the deceased, as the case may be;

b) The officer in charge of the Police Station, within one month from the date of the accident, shall forward the FAR to the Claims Enquiry Officer as provided in sub-clause (1) of clause 21 of the Scheme. While forwarding a copy of the said report, the names of the victims in case of injury and the names of the legal representatives of the deceased victim (if available with the Police Station) shall also be forwarded to the jurisdictional Claims Enquiry Officer, who shall cause the same to be entered in a separate register. After receipt of the FAR and other particulars as aforesaid by the Claims Enquiry Officer, if the claim application is not received within one month, the information shall be provided by the Claims Enquiry Officer to the concerned District Legal Service Authority with a request to the said authority to contact the claimants and assist them in filing the claim applications;

c) A Monitoring Committee shall be constituted at every district level consisting of the Secretary of the District Legal Service Authority, the Claims Enquiry Officer of the district or, if there is more than one, the Claim Enquiry Officer nominated by the State Government, and a police officer not below the level of Deputy Superintendent of Police as may be nominated by the District Superintendent of Police. The Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority shall be the Convener of the Monitoring Committee. The Committee shall meet at least once in every two months to monitor the implementation of the Scheme in the district and the compliance with the aforesaid directions;

d) The Claims Enquiry Officer shall ensure that a report containing his recommendation and other documents are forwarded to the Claim Settlement Commissioner within one month from receipt of the claim application duly filled in;

On relaxing the limitation period

The bench noted that the 2022 scheme does not provide for any limitation period. However, the earlier Solatium Scheme provided that a period of limitation of 6 months for filing claims from the date of the accident, which was extendable up to 12 months.

The bench directed the Central Government to consider whether a modification can be made so that those who were entitled to apply under the Solatium Scheme can apply within the time extended as a one-time measure. The reason is that many victims may not be aware of their right to apply under the Solatium Scheme.

Consider whether the compensation amount can be increased

The bench suggested a revision of the compensation amount of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 50,000 for death and greivous injuries respectively arising out of hit and run cases.

"The value of money diminishes with time. We direct the Central Government to consider whether the compensation amounts can be gradually enhanced annually. The Central Government shall take an appropriate decision on this issue within eight weeks from today," the bench said.

The bench also directed the Standing Committee to take effective steps to increase public awareness about the scheme and to effectively implement the same.

The suggested

The bench will consider the matter next on April 22, 2024 to monitor compliance.

Case : S Rajaseekaran v. Union of India and others

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 35

Click here to read the order