The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its nod to the government’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for the protection of ‘Good Samaritans’ who assist road accident victims.
A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra asked all the states to follow the January 21, 2016 notification by the Union Transport Ministry which is intended as a positive signal to changing the general public’s attitude of turning away from helping a road accident victim by taking them to hospital.
The government has framed the SOP on the earlier orders passed by the court on basis of a PIL filed by NGO Save Life Foundation in 2012. The NGO contended that the lives of accident victims can be saved if a law can be made to protect ‘Good Samaritans’ from legal and procedural hassles at the hands of police and hospitals.
The Centre had issued a series of guidelines on May 12, 2015 to protect ‘Good Samaritans’ like assuring them anonymity, protecting them from any civil or criminal liability for taking the victim to the nearest hospital and even a suitable reward for the life-saving initiative.
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