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Supreme Court – Daily Orders
S.Rajaseekaran vs Union Of India And Ors on 17 April, 2025
Author: Abhay S. Oka
Bench: Abhay S. Oka
ITEM NO.9 COURT NO.4 SECTION PIL-W
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
WRIT PETITION(S)(CIVIL) NO(S). 295/2012
S.RAJASEEKARAN Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. & ORS. Respondent(s)
[MR. GAURAV AGRAWAL, SENIOR ADVOCATE IS AMICUS
CURIAE] ................[ REF. ORDER DATED 07.04.2025 .[ONLY IA
Nos. 36566/2024, 43519/2024, 119142/2024, 127111/2024, 127506/2024,
247404/2024, 260997/2024, 278218/2024, 24181/2025, 43387/2025,
46585/2025 and 50798/2025 ARE LISTED UNDER THIS ITEM]
(IA No. 50798/2025 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No.
46585/2025 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 43387/2025 -
APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 24181/2025 - APPROPRIATE
ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 260997/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION, IA No. 247404/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION, IA No. 127506/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION, IA No. 127111/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION, IA No. 119142/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION, IA No. 43519/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION, IA No. 36566/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE
APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION AND IA No. 278218/2024 - PERMISSION TO
FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
Date : 17-04-2025 This matter was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHAY S. OKA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN
Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, Sr. Adv., Amicus Curiae
Mr. Ravi Raghunath, AOR
Mr. Manan Daga, Adv.
For Petitioner(s): Mr. Krishna Kumar, AOR
Mr. Vinodh Kanna B, Adv.
For Respondent(s): Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.
Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Mr. Sharath Nambiar, Adv.
Mr. T S Sabrish, Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Mr. Debojit Borkakati, Adv.
Digitally signed by
ASHISH KONDLE
Date: 2025.04.24
Ms. Tusharika Sharma, Adv.
19:22:33 IST
Reason:
Mr. Kishan Chand Jain, Adv.
Mr. Haraprasad Sahu, Adv.
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Mr. Rohit Kumar Rana, Adv.
Mr. Pranaya Kumar Mohapatra, AOR
Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.
Mr. Sharath Nambiar, Adv.
Mr. B.K. Satija, Adv.
Mr. T.S. Sabarish, Adv.
Mr. Debojit Borkakati, Adv.
Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR
Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.
Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv.
Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv.
Mr. M.K. Maroria, AOR
Mr. S.N. Terdal, AOR
Mr. Viresh B. Saharya, AOR
Ms. Prerna Mehta, AOR
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.
Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv.
Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR
Mr. Akshay Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Abbas B., Adv.
Mr. Jyoti P. Deborah, Adv.
Mr. Akshay Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Aman Gautam, Adv.
Mr. Aadithya Aravindh, Adv.
Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Annirudh Sharma II, Adv.
Mr. Jagdish Chandra Solanki, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR
Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR
M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR
Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR
Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR
Mr. Tanish Arora, Adv.
Mr. Sumit Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Akshay Tiwari, Adv.
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Ms. Tanya Shrotiya, Adv.
Ms. Jaikriti S. Jadeja, AOR
Mr. D. K. Devesh, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Divyanshu Kumar Srivastava, AOR
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR
Mr. Prashant Bhagwati, Adv.
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, AOR
Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR
Mr. Yatharth Kansal, Adv.
Mr. Lenin Singh Hijam, Adv. Gen, Adv.
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv.
Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Ms. Ruchira Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Shishir Deshpande, AOR
Ms. Pooja Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Verma, Adv.
Mr. V. Shyamohan, AOR
Mr. Sanjay Jain, AOR
Mr. Rajat Bhardwaj, A.A.G.
Ms. Baani Khanna, AOR
Mr. Robin Singh, Adv.
Mr. Kapil Balwani, Adv.
Ms. Tejal Nagauri, Adv.
Mr. Satyajeet Kumar, AOR
Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR
Mr. Shantanu Sagar, AOR
Mr. Santosh Kumar - I, AOR
Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR
Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Adv.
Mr. Suraj Singh, Adv.
Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR
Ms. Neha Singh, Adv.
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Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR
Mr. Abhimanyu Singh Ga, Adv.
Mr. Sarad Kumar Singhania Aor, Adv.
Ms. Rashmi Singhania, Adv.
Mr. Nitin Lonkar, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR
Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv.
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR
Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv.
Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
Mr. Raghavendra M. Kulkarni, Adv.
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Ms. Anu K Joy, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Mr. Santhosh K, Adv.
Mr. Vikramjit 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. M. P. Vinod, AOR
Mr. Kishan Chand Jain, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Ashwini Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Sidhant Sahay, Adv.
Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR
Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv.
Mr. Azmat Hayat Amanullah, AOR
Ms. Rebecca Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Sagar Chauhan, Adv.
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Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR
Mr. Subhasish Mohanty, AOR
Mr. Vivek Kishore, AOR
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv.
Mr. Subhasish Mohanty, AOR
Mr. Umesh Kumar Shukla, Adv.
Mr. Gitesh Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, AAG
Ms. Shalini Singh, Adv.
Ms. Nidhi Jaiswal, AOR
Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR
Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv.
Mr. Fateh Singh, Adv.
Mr. Aman Dev Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv.
Mr. P.S. Negi, Adv.
Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
IA NO. 36566/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
1. It is true that a very important issue has been flagged by the
applicant. Road accidents in our country are on the rise. The
reasons may be different. There are cases and cases where the
injured victims of road accidents do not get immediate help. There
are cases where though the victims are not injured, they get
trapped in the vehicles. In short, the issue raised by the
applicant is about the obligation of the State to develop a
machinery which will provide for a swift response in case of
accidents. According to the applicant, there should be six heads
of protocol which read thus:
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“(a) Swift Response Protocols: To establish
swift response protocols, ensuring
emergency services promptly reach the scene
of accident with timely reporting by the
road agency and the Incharge Station House
Officer of Police.
(b) Fixing Responsibility if Delayed
Reporting/Action: To fix the responsibility
of the concerned officer of the road agency
and Police Officer in the event of delayed
reporting of the fatality on the
Expressways (EWs)/National Highways
(NHs)/State Highways (SHs).
(c) Public Awareness Campaigns: To launch
campaign time-to-time to create public
awareness about the significance of
promptly reporting accidents amongst road
users and, for that purpose,
signages/posters also be placed at adequate
number of conspicuous places with helpline
numbers.
(d) Emergency Contact Information: To
encourage drivers to utilize emergency
contact information to facilitate quick
communication with the police and relevant
road agency.
(e) Enhanced Patrolling and Surveillance:
To increase the frequency of patrolling
teams of the concerned road agency and
police stations on Expressways (EWs),
National Highways (NHs) and State Highways
(SHs) especially during vulnerable hours.
(f) Community Engagement: To involve local
communities in reporting incidents and
maintaining vigilance on expressways and
highways (NHs & SHs).”
2. Though it will be difficult at this stage for this Court to
issue a writ of mandamus, nevertheless, we are of the view that the
States and the Union Territories must work on having Swift Response
Protocols. In every State at the grassroot level, the situation
may be different. We, therefore, direct the States and Union
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Territories to take effective steps for developing Swift Response
Protocols with the object of ensuring that help immediately reaches
the victim of an accident. We grant time of six months to the
States and Union Territories to take appropriate action and place
their responses on record.
3. At this stage, Shri Vikramjit Banerjee, learned ASG, states
that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has worked on
this aspect. A note tendered across the Bar is taken on record.
The NHAI is directed to forward the copies of its Note to the
Transport Department of all the States and the Union Territories.
We direct the NHAI to file an affidavit within a period of three
months from today setting out the steps taken for actual
implementation of the facilities which are indicated in the Note
tendered across the Bar today. The States and Union Territories
shall be guided by the protocol prepared by the NHAI.
IA NO. 43519/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
4. Our attention is invited by the applicant to the provisions of
Section 215B of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (for short, “the MV
Act”) which provides for constitution of a National Road Safety
Board. Very important functions and duties have been assigned to
the Board. However, as indicated in the ‘Note for hearing on 17th
April, 2025’ filed by Shri Gaurav Agrawal, learned Senior Advocate
appointed as Amicus Curiae, the Board has remained only on paper as
the Chairperson and Members are not being appointed. The other
issue is in what manner the recommendations of the Board can be
implemented. Firstly, the Board must be properly constituted. We,
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therefore, direct the Central Government to file an affidavit
indicating the outer limit within which the Board will be properly
constituted. Such affidavit shall be filed within a period of two
weeks from today which shall be considered on 9th May 2025.
IA NO. 119142/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
5. This Application will require a response from the State of
Uttar Pradesh. We direct the State of Uttar Pradesh to file an
affidavit dealing with this Application within a period of two
weeks from today which shall be considered on 9th May 2025.
6. Prima facie it appears to us that the effect of the Uttar
Pradesh Criminal Law (Composition of Offences and Abatement of
Trials) (Amendment) Act, 2023, referred in the Application is that
if a person, who has allegedly committed an offence under the MV
Act, does not pay the fine, after a lapse of time, the proceedings
automatically abate. The result is that the traffic offender is
scot-free.
IA NO. 127111/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
7. We refer the issue raised in this Application to the Committee
appointed by this Court on road safety so that the Committee can
look into the same and make appropriate recommendations in that
behalf.
8. The Application is disposed of accordingly.
IA NO. 127506/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
9. A very important issue is flagged by this Application. Under
the provisions of Section 91 of the MV Act read with the Motor
Transport Workers Act, 1961, working hours of the drivers operating
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transport vehicles have been limited to 08 hours in a day and 48
hours in a week. The question is of the implementation of this
provision. We, therefore, direct the Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways (MoRTH) of the Government of India to convene a
meeting of the concerned departments of all the States and Union
Territories for working out effective methods to implement the
provisions regarding working hours of the drivers operating
transport vehicles. The MoRTH shall also call for the data from
all the States and Union Territories regarding implementation of
the provisions. The possibility of invoking the penal provisions
for violating these provisions must be considered. Unless there is
a deterrent, this important provision regarding working hours of
the drivers cannot be implemented. All the States and Union
Territories shall submit their compliance reports to the MoRTH by
the end of August 2025. The MoRTH shall prepare a comprehensive
report and submit to the Court. An advance copy must be supplied to
the office of the learned Amicus Curiae so that appropriate
directions can be issued.
IA NO. 247404/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
10. While we are not disputing the bona fides of the applicant, it
is impossible for us to issue a direction that a motor vehicle
cannot be registered in the name of an individual unless he has a
valid driving license. Hence, the Application is rejected.
IA NO. 260997/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
11. The learned ASG states that the process of publication of
Annual Report on road accidents in 2023 is going on. We grant time
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to the MoRTH to publish the same by the end of August 2025. We
also direct the MoRTH to ensure that such annual reports are
published within a period of six months from expiry of every
calendar year. Only if such reports are published with promptness,
the same can be useful.
12. The Application is, accordingly, disposed of.
IA NO. 278218/2024 (PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)
13. List on 28th April, 2025.
IA NO. 24181/2025 (APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS)
14. Firstly, we will take response of the MoRTH as the learned ASG
states that a portal is already developed which will take care of
the issues flagged in this Application. We grant time of two
months to the MoRTH to file an affidavit placing on record the
details of the working of the portal and the manner in which
follow-up action has been taken on the basis of the data uploaded
on the portal.
IA NO. 43387/2025 (APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS)
15. List on 28th April, 2025.
IA NO. 46585/2025 (APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS)
16. In our view, the suggestion made by the applicant providing
for Speed Monitoring by Real-Time FASTag Data Transmission requires
serious consideration. To begin with, we call upon the NHAI to
respond to this Application and state on oath whether the
suggestion made by the applicant – Mr. Hemant Jain can be
implemented. We grant time of two months to the NHAI to respond by
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filing an affidavit.
IA NO. 50798/2025 (APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS)
17. This issue needs a deeper consideration considering the rights
of the citizens. The learned Amicus Curiae states that he will
submit a detailed note on this aspect. This Application shall be
considered on 9th May, 2025.
(ASHISH KONDLE) (AVGV RAMU)
ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS COURT MASTER (NSH)
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