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Savelife Foundation & Anr v. Union of India & Anr, Writ Petition (Civil) No(s) - 235 of 2012 (SC)

As downloaded 4-Sept-2015 http://courtnic.nic.in/supremecourt/temp/2352012311122012p.txt --- http://scroll.in/article/734871/after-decades-india-has-guidelines-to-protect-good-samaritans-but-what-we-need-is-a-law After decades, India has guidelines to protect Good Samaritans. But what we need is a law Nayantara Narayanan · Jun 18, 2015 · 10:30 am The guidelines prevent the police or a hospital from detaining a bystander who brings an accident victim in to a medical facility. Is this enough? One evening last December, Devendra Ambedkar rushed a stranger to a hospital in Borivali, Mumbai. The man had been in a motor accident and was bleeding profusely on the road, while a large crowd of people gathered around and watched. Ambedkar and two others lifted him into an autorickshaw and took him to the emergency room of a hospital about 100 metres from the accident spot. The hospital staff first demanded to know who the men who brought the accident victim in were, Ambedkar recalls. Then they started speculating on whether it would lead to a police investigation. “We said that we would talk to the police and were not worried about the police case but they must start operating on the man. The hospital staff said we had to pay a Rs 20,000 fee before they started treatment.” For about an hour and a half, the bystanders and the hospital staff haggled over treating the victim, who ran a motor training school. During this time, Ambedkar and other bystanders managed to collect Rs 11,000 towards the stranger’s emergency care. But by then it was too late. “For the lack of Rs 9,000 the man died,” Ambedkar said. A new set of guidelines from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways aims to tighten the screws on hospitals to prevent them from denying care to accident victims. The guidelines are also set up to protect Good Samaritans like Ambedkar from having to pay up at hospitals and from getting entangled in legal cases while helping strangers injured in accidents. The ministry has asked that all registered public and private hospitals not detain bystanders bringing in the injured or demand any kind of payment from them unless they are family members of the injured person. The guidelines suggest that a lack of response be considered “professional misconduct” and disciplinary action be taken consequently. Big step forward India’s roads are deadly. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that more than 1.37 lakh people died in road accidents in 2013, with similar numbers being reported in previous years. According to the 201st Law Commission report on emergency medical care to accident victims, doctors found that half the fatalities in accident cases, whether on the road or otherwise, could have been averted if the victims had been admitted into a hospital in the first hour after the accident. The delay is because of India’s hugely overburdened response systems but also because bystanders hesitate to help the seriously injured. A national survey by the Save Life Foundation, an NGO focused on improving road safety in India, found that 74% of bystanders are unlikely to help victims of a serious injury. “What we were able to do at the very outset was to rule out apathy as a reason,” said Piyush Tewari, one of the founders of the Save Life Foundation. “India faces a lot of accidents. There might be a building collapse or a bus crash. The first people to help the injured people are bystanders. It is only in the case of road accidents and violence, like the Nirbhaya case in Delhi, that people are afraid to come forward.” For 88% of the people unlikely to respond, their reluctance stemmed from a fear of being dragged into protracted police investigations and legal proceedings. The new Good Samaritan guidelines are a result of a petition filed by the Save Life Foundation in the Supreme Court. After considering the petition, the court ordered the government in October last year to frame guidelines to shield Go

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180 views4 pages

Savelife Foundation & Anr v. Union of India & Anr, Writ Petition (Civil) No(s) - 235 of 2012 (SC)

As downloaded 4-Sept-2015 http://courtnic.nic.in/supremecourt/temp/2352012311122012p.txt --- http://scroll.in/article/734871/after-decades-india-has-guidelines-to-protect-good-samaritans-but-what-we-need-is-a-law After decades, India has guidelines to protect Good Samaritans. But what we need is a law Nayantara Narayanan · Jun 18, 2015 · 10:30 am The guidelines prevent the police or a hospital from detaining a bystander who brings an accident victim in to a medical facility. Is this enough? One evening last December, Devendra Ambedkar rushed a stranger to a hospital in Borivali, Mumbai. The man had been in a motor accident and was bleeding profusely on the road, while a large crowd of people gathered around and watched. Ambedkar and two others lifted him into an autorickshaw and took him to the emergency room of a hospital about 100 metres from the accident spot. The hospital staff first demanded to know who the men who brought the accident victim in were, Ambedkar recalls. Then they started speculating on whether it would lead to a police investigation. “We said that we would talk to the police and were not worried about the police case but they must start operating on the man. The hospital staff said we had to pay a Rs 20,000 fee before they started treatment.” For about an hour and a half, the bystanders and the hospital staff haggled over treating the victim, who ran a motor training school. During this time, Ambedkar and other bystanders managed to collect Rs 11,000 towards the stranger’s emergency care. But by then it was too late. “For the lack of Rs 9,000 the man died,” Ambedkar said. A new set of guidelines from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways aims to tighten the screws on hospitals to prevent them from denying care to accident victims. The guidelines are also set up to protect Good Samaritans like Ambedkar from having to pay up at hospitals and from getting entangled in legal cases while helping strangers injured in accidents. The ministry has asked that all registered public and private hospitals not detain bystanders bringing in the injured or demand any kind of payment from them unless they are family members of the injured person. The guidelines suggest that a lack of response be considered “professional misconduct” and disciplinary action be taken consequently. Big step forward India’s roads are deadly. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that more than 1.37 lakh people died in road accidents in 2013, with similar numbers being reported in previous years. According to the 201st Law Commission report on emergency medical care to accident victims, doctors found that half the fatalities in accident cases, whether on the road or otherwise, could have been averted if the victims had been admitted into a hospital in the first hour after the accident. The delay is because of India’s hugely overburdened response systems but also because bystanders hesitate to help the seriously injured. A national survey by the Save Life Foundation, an NGO focused on improving road safety in India, found that 74% of bystanders are unlikely to help victims of a serious injury. “What we were able to do at the very outset was to rule out apathy as a reason,” said Piyush Tewari, one of the founders of the Save Life Foundation. “India faces a lot of accidents. There might be a building collapse or a bus crash. The first people to help the injured people are bystanders. It is only in the case of road accidents and violence, like the Nirbhaya case in Delhi, that people are afraid to come forward.” For 88% of the people unlikely to respond, their reluctance stemmed from a fear of being dragged into protracted police investigations and legal proceedings. The new Good Samaritan guidelines are a result of a petition filed by the Save Life Foundation in the Supreme Court. After considering the petition, the court ordered the government in October last year to frame guidelines to shield Go

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ITEM NO.

72

COURT NO.12

SECTION PIL

S U P R E M E

C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO(s). 235 OF 2012


SAVELIFE FOUNDATION & ANR

Petitioner(s)

VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ANR

Respondent(s)

(for final disposal)


Date: 11/12/2012 This Petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SWATANTER KUMAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MADAN B. LOKUR
For Petitioner(s)

For Respondent(s)

Ms. Indu Malhotra,Sr.Adv.


Mr. Kush Chaturvedi,Adv.
Mr. Vivek Jain,Adv.
Ms. Malvika Kapila,Adv.
Mr. Vikas Mehta,Adv.
Mr.
Ms.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.

Sidharth Luthra,ASG.
Gargi Khanna,Adv.
D.S.Mahara,Adv.
Rathore,Adv.
D.Sehgal,Adv.

UPON hearing counsel the Court made the following


O R D E R
In this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution
of India the principal prayer of the petitioner is to issue
guidelines in relation to the victim of Road Accidents, in other
words what protection has to be provided and how best trauma
treatment can be provided in case of fatal accident. It is
primarily a subject which will fall in the field of the
concerned
-2experts and it may not be very appropriate for this Court to
venture for framing of guidelines.
It is submitted brought
before us by the learned counsel appearing for the parties that
an
Expert
Body
may
be
constituted
to
make
suggestions/recommendations which may then form the basis for
issuance of final guidelines by this Court in exercise of its
extraordinary jurisdiction.
Learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for
Union of India has submitted a short note before us. The points
raised in this note with certain addition and alterations are
acceptable to the petitioners. They are in relation to

constitution of an Expert Committee and its scope of majority.


Designations and names of the members of this Committee have been
suggested by the learned Additional Solicitor General. Thus, on
the common plea of the parties we constitute the following
Committee:1. Additional Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs;
2. Secretary and or his nominee, Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare to be nominated in consultation with
Directorate General Health Services;
3. Secretary and or his nominee from Ministry of Law
and Justice;

-34. Jt. Commissioner (Traffic)-Delhi Police;


5 Chief of the AIIMS Trauma Centre;
6. The Director General or his nominee not below the
rank of the Additional Director General of the Protection Road
Organizations;
7. Save Life foundation representative;
8. Mr. M.P.Tiwari or his nominee from any of the
NAOS John Ambulance representative.
The Committee shall be chaired by Mr. V.S. Agarwal,
former Judge, Delhi High Court, Secretary or his nominee,
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will be the nodal officer
for the purpose of holding these meetings as well as to ensure
the submissions or the recommendation to this Court within the
time allowed. We also permit the Committee to receive expert
advise/consultation from Dr. G.Guru Raj, Collaborating Centre for
Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion, National Institute of
Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, if they so
deem necessary.
The scope of reference of this Committee shall be as
follows:

-4i)To identify public and private hospitals throughout


the country to conduct training programmes to provide
trainers at district level for training volunteers
who are part of the district emergency medical
response teams.
ii)Training the State Police personnel in basic firstaid techniques and interrogation and treatment of
persons who help accident victims by incorporating
the same as part of the curriculum of the Police
training schools and colleges.

iii)Incorporating basic first-aid training a part of


the school curriculum. Creation of ambulance, first
aid medical centres and designated highway police in
each State.
iv)Networking of National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) Ambulances with first and second level trauma
centres by NHAI with the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare and State Governments.
v)Providing of infrastructure and connectivity
between trauma centres at different places and
monitoring progress.

-5vi)Providing infrastructural support to the National


Highway Administration brought in by the Control of
National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, 2002.
vii)Study the extent to which schemes for emergency
care for road accident victims, as submitted by
Respondent No.1, have been implemented. The outcome
this study would be a report with evidence based
representation of reality of such schemes on the
ground.
viii)Study the effectiveness of such schemes with
regard to their responsiveness towards injured
victims an ability to save lives. The outcome of
this study would be measurable parameters such as
availability of universal access number for victims
to call for help, average response times taken in
reaching injured victims, quality of care provided,
etc. The measurement parameters would be established
in the first meeting of the Committee.
ix)Identify the root causes for fear of harassment
and legal hassles in general public regarding helping
injured victims.

-6x)Deliberate and develop a set of guidelines for


protecting Good Samaritans from police harassment and
legal hassles. The guidelines will aim to address the
root causes for fear of harassment and legal hassles
in general public regarding helping injured victims.
These guidelines will also serve as a foundation for
further legislative work in the area of protecting
Good Samaritans.
xi)The Committee will submit its complete report to
the Hon'ble Supreme Court within 3 months from the
date of Order."
The Chairman of the Expert Committee shall receive a
sum of Rs.50,000/- p.m. as honorarium in addition to all the
expenses that he may like to incur.
While making its recommendations the Committee can
also examine such material or comments as are submitted by Union
of India or any other Committee or Organization on the subject in
question for its consideration.
We direct the aforesaid Committee to submit its
report within three months from today.
Stand over for three months.
[SUMAN WADHWA]
COURT MASTER

[S.S.R. KRISHNA]
COURT MASTER

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