Supreme Court has approved the Union Government’s guidelines to protect Good Samaritans, who help the road accident victims, from being unnecessarily harassed by the police or any other authority. These guidelines based on the recommendations K S Radhakrishnan committee were approved by the SC bench comprising justices V Gopala Gowda & Arun Mishra. These guidelines will be binding on all states and Union Territories untill the union government enacts a law to this effect. The bench also has asked the Union Government to give wide publicity to these guidelines so that people who help others in the time of distress are not victimised by any authority. It should be noted that SC took on record these guidelines to protect Good Samaritans placed by the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. The Ministry had approached the SC for issuing these guidelines on all states and Union Territories by its order as it was facing difficulty to enforce them in the absence of any statutory backing.
Background:
The Guideline of the Transport Ministry were based on the recommendations of the 3 member committee headed by the former judge K S Radhakrishnan. The committee was appointed by the SC in 2014 to monitor steps taken by the Centre and state governments to ensure the road safety. The committee had given 12 major recommendations including setting up of State Road Safety Councils, evolving a protocol for identification of black spots, their removal and monitoring to see the effectiveness of the action taken. The committee had also suggested strengthening of enforcement relating to drunken driving, red light jumping, over-speeding and helmet or seat belt laws.
Supreme Court approves Union Government’s guidelines to protect Good Samaritans to victims
