Will implement ‘golden hour’ accident treatment scheme in week, Centre tells SC
The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during the ‘golden hour’ would be implemented within a week.
Defined under Section 2 (12-A) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the ‘golden hour’ refers to a one-hour window following a traumatic injury under which a timely medical intervention would most likely save the victim/s.
The assurance came after a Bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka pulled up the Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), for inordinate delay in framing a statutory scheme for providing cashless treatment to motor accident victims during the ‘golden hour’.
“People are dying on highways. There is no facility there. No golden hour treatment. What is the use of constructing highways?” the Bench asked.
Acting on a petition filed by S Rajaseekaran, chairman and head of Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore, highlighting high road accident deaths in India, the top court had on January 8 directed the Centre to frame the scheme “as expeditiously as possible and, in any event, by March 14”. It had made it clear that “no further time shall be granted”.
What use… People dying on highways
People are dying on highways. There is no facility there. No ‘golden hour’ treatment. What’s the use of constructing highways? Supreme Court
On Monday, the Bench warned the MoRTH Secretary, who appeared via video conferencing, that he would be hauled up for contempt of court. “Firstly, remember you are in contempt. We will issue contempt notice to you first. What is this going on? Are you not supposed to come to the court when you can’t comply with an order? Just now you tell us when you will frame the scheme,” the Bench said.
“You don’t care for your own statutes… Can you be so casual? Three years after, you are saying you hit roadblocks etc. You have done nothing. Why did you enact this provision?” the Bench wondered.
“You don’t care about the orders of the court. If you were serious, you would have asked for an extension of time. What is the justification? We will issue contempt notice,” Justice Oka told the MoRTH Secretary who apologised to the Bench for the inordinate delay in implementing the January 8 order.
“The Secretary of MoRTH, Government of India, appears. He states that the scheme for golden hour in accordance with Section 162(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 will be brought into force within a week from today… The learned Secretary states that the government tenders an apology for non-compliance with direction contained in paragraph 8 of order dated January 8,” the Bench said in its order.
As Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee submitted that the MoRTH was trying to address the challenges identified during the process for the smooth rollout of the scheme, Justice Oka said improvements could always be made once the scheme was implemented.
India