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Savelife Foundation & Anr. v. Union of India

Writ Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 235 of 2012)Decided 30 Mar 2016
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 235 of 2012
Justice V. Gopala Gowda · Justice Arun Mishra

Background

SaveLife Foundation, a non-profit working on road safety, filed a public interest writ petition under Article 32 asking the Supreme Court to create a legal framework protecting "Good Samaritans", bystanders who help road accident victims, from harassment. The petition noted that bystanders in India often avoid helping injured victims out of fear of being dragged into police investigations, repeated court appearances, or legal liability, and that this hesitation costs lives since road accidents were projected to become one of India's biggest killers. The Central Government had already begun framing guidelines (notified on 12.5.2015 and 21.1.2016) to protect Good Samaritans, and the Court examined and refined these.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court approved the Central Government's Good Samaritan guidelines, with certain modifications, and directed that they be treated as binding law under Articles 32, 141 and 142 of the Constitution on all State Governments, Union Territories and their functionaries. Key protections include: a Good Samaritan who takes an injured person to hospital cannot be compelled to disclose personal details or stay for further formalities unless they volunteer to do so; any affidavit given by a Good Samaritan is to be treated as a complete statement, examined only once; and courts should avoid insisting on personal appearance of Good Samaritans, preferring other modes of recording evidence. The Court also directed that the guidelines be widely publicised through print and electronic media, while clarifying that none of this affects the separate statutory liability of a driver involved in an accident under Section 134 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The writ petition was allowed.

Lesson Learnt

If you stop to help a road accident victim in India, the law protects you: you cannot be forced to give your personal details, you generally won't be detained for questioning, and you cannot be repeatedly dragged into police or court proceedings just for being a Good Samaritan.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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