The Supreme Court has issued a slew of directions to police authorities across the country to ensure prompt monetary compensation to both victims of hit-and-run accidents and families of those killed in such mishaps.

The apex court noted that very few victims have availed themselves of the compensation scheme under the Motor Vehicles Act compared with the massive rise in such crimes, attributing it to a lack of awareness.

Quoting records published by the Union ministry of road transport and highways, the apex court noted that there were 55,942 hit-and-run accidents in 2016, 65,186 in 2017, 69,621 in 2018, and 69,621 in 2019.

According to Clause (d) of Section 145 of the MV (Motor Vehicles) Act, 1988, an accident involving a motor vehicle can be considered hit-and-run provided the identity of the vehicle cannot be ascertained despite reasonable efforts.

Under Section 161 of the MV Act, the family of a person killed in a hit-and-run is entitled to compensation of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 50,000 in case of injury.

However, in the absence of proper awareness among the general public to avail of the benefits during such mishaps, the apex court has issued the following directions:

1. If the particulars of the vehicle involved in the accidents relating to hit-and-run cases are not available within a month, 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 email 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.

2. The officer in charge of the police station, within one month from the date of the accident, shall forward the FAR (first accident report) to the claims enquiry officer as provided in sub-clause (1) of clause 21 of the (MV) scheme. While forwarding a copy of the 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.

After receipt of the FAR and other particulars as aforesaid by the claims enquiry
officer, if the claim application is not received (from the claimants) within one month, the information shall be provided by the claims enquiry officer to the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) concerned with a request to the said authority to contact the claimants and assist them in filing the claim applications.

3. A monitoring committee shall be constituted at every district level consisting of the secretary of the DLSA, the claims enquiry officer of the district or/and a police officer not below the level of deputy superintendent of police. The committee shall meet at least once every two months to monitor the implementation of the scheme in the district and the compliance with the aforesaid directions.

4. 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.

5. The registry of the apex court shall forward a copy of the order to the member
secretaries of the legal services authorities of each state and Union Territory. The member secretaries shall, in turn, forward the copies of this order to the secretaries of each DLSA within its jurisdiction. After receipt of the copies of this order, the secretaries of the DLSA shall take steps to form the monitoring committees for their respective districts.

6. The secretaries of the DLSA shall submit quarterly reports on the functioning of the monitoring committees to the member secretaries of the respective legal services authorities of the state or the Union Territory, as the case may be. The member secretaries shall collate the reports submitted by all districts and forward a comprehensive report to the registry of the apex court.

Justice Abhay S. Oka said: “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 posted the matter for further hearing to April 22.