Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Krishna Kumar, AOR
For the Respondent(s): Mr. Vikramjeet Banerjee, A.S.G. Mr. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sharma, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Verma, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapur, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv. Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Apoorv Kurup, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. R. Bala, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv. Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv. Mr. Annirudh Sharma Ii, Adv. Mr. Jagdish Chandra Solanki, Adv. Mr. Viresh B. Saharya, AOR Ms. Prerna Mehta, AOR Mr. Satyajeet Kumar, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Sanjeev Kaushik, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Chakravarty, Adv. Ms. Muskan Surana, Adv. Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Samarth Krishan Luthra, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv. Mr. Santosh Kumar - I, AOR Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR Mr. Nitin Lonkar, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv. Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Ms. Ayushi Bansal, Adv. Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR Ms. Mythili S, Adv. Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Ms. Ruchira Gupta Standing Counsel, Adv. Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR Mr. M. P. Vinod, AOR Mr. Kishan Chand Jain, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Ashwini Kumar, Adv. Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR Mr. Subhasish Mohanty, AOR Mr. Azmat Hayat Amanullah, AOR Ms. Rebecca Mishra, Adv. Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR Mr. Rajesh Kumar Maurya, Adv. Mr. Anand Krishna, Adv. Mr. Vivek Kishore, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Ms. Limayinla Jamir, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv. Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Mr. Akshay Gupta, Adv. Mr. Aadithya Aravindh, Adv. Mr. D. K. Devesh, AOR M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR Mr. Sumit Gupta, Adv. Mr. Akshay Tiwari, Adv. Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, AOR Ms. Tanya Shrotiya, Adv. Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR Mr. Pranaya Kumar Mohapatra, AOR Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Prashant Bhagwati, Adv. Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR Mr. Rajat Bhardwaj, A.A.G. Ms. Baani Khanna, AOR Mr. Robin Singh, Adv. Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv. Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv. Ms. Tanvi Anand, Adv. Ms. Saushria Havelia, Adv. Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv. Mr. Shantanu Sagar, AOR Mr. Prabhat Ranjan Raj, Adv. Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv. Mr. Gunjesh Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Keshav Khandelwal, Adv. Mr. V. Shyamohan, AOR Mr. Sanjay Jain, AOR Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Adv. Ms. Sneha Menon, Adv. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. T.K.Nayak,Adv. Mr. Marbiang Khongwir,Adv.

Key Points from the Judgment

• The judgment addresses cashless treatment for victims of motor vehicle accidents, emphasizing the "golden hour" scheme under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. (!) (!)

• Section 162(1) requires insurance companies carrying on general insurance business in India to provide treatment for road accident victims, including during the golden hour, notwithstanding other laws. (!)

• Section 162(2) imposes a statutory obligation on the Central Government to frame a scheme for cashless treatment of accident victims during the golden hour, which may include provisions for creating a fund. (!)

• "Golden hour" is defined as the one-hour period following a traumatic injury during which prompt medical care has the highest likelihood of preventing death. (!)

• Treatment during the golden hour is crucial for survival in motor accidents, as delays can lead to loss of life; every human life is precious and must be protected. (!) (!)

• Hospitals often delay treatment waiting for police arrival or due to concerns over payment of high charges, denying victims timely care. (!)

• Section 164-B mandates the Central Government to constitute the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, credited from notified payments, grants, prior fund balances, and other sources, to provide compulsory insurance cover to road users. (!) (!) (!)

• The Fund is to be utilized for treatment of road accident victims under the Section 162 scheme, hit-and-run compensation, and other prescribed purposes, with maximum liability amounts prescribed by the Central Government. (!) (!) (!)

• Payments from the Fund for treatment are deductible from insurance claims paid to victims. (!)

• The Fund is managed by an authority with insurance expertise, capability to handle funds, and other criteria, with accounts audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and laid before Parliament. (!) (!) (!)

• Central Motor Vehicles (Motor Vehicle Accident Fund) Rules, 2022 (Rules 11 and 12) provide for Fund utilization and disbursement for cashless treatment, but require the Section 162(2) scheme to be effective. (!)

• A draft concept note exists, but concerns include limits like Rs.1,50,000 maximum payment and seven-day treatment cap; the scheme must prioritize saving lives through immediate golden hour treatment. (!)

• The scheme under Section 162(2), supported by Section 164-B and Rules, upholds the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution and is a statutory mandate overdue since 1st April 2022. (!)

• Central Government directed to frame and notify the scheme by 14th March 2025 (no extensions), place it on record with implementation affidavit by 21st March 2025; matter listed on 24th March 2025. (!) (!)

• For hit-and-run claims, GIC to process based on seven specified documents (FIR, post-mortem/injury report, death certificate, bank details, claimant/victim ID proofs, cashless treatment receipts); clear deficiencies with claimants. (!) (!)

• GIC's portal for document upload is in progress; to be completed urgently by 14th March 2025, with features to notify States of deficiencies for faster claims; compliance report required. (!)

• Petition listed for 24th March 2025 for further directions on compliance. (!) (!)