The Chhattisgarh High Court, hearing a suo-moto PIL following the deadly accident in Kawardha district that claimed the lives of 19 members of the Baiga tribe on May 21, has directed state and national highway authorities to file an affidavit in compliance with road safety directions.
Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Parth Prateem Sahu of the division bench of the Supreme Court held in the S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India case that affidavits had to contain information on the actions taken, circulars sent, and the status of safety committees.
The National Highway Authority of India in Bilaspur, the regional officer of the National Highway Division in Raipur, and the transport commissioner for Chhattisgarh have all been summoned by the court to submit personal affidavits. The actions performed in response to the Supreme Court's order are to be described in these affidavits. Records of any directives and circulars issued to lower the number of traffic accidents on state and federal routes must also be included. In accordance with directives from the Supreme Court, they must also report on the state and efficacy of district road safety committees. The court's decision was made at the suo-moto public interest lawsuit (PIL) hearing, which was prompted by news accounts of the tragic tragedy that claimed 19 lives. A pick-up truck carrying 36 people was overloaded. The driver and some men jumped off the vehicle to save themselves, but the 19, all of whom were women and girls, died. The vehicle was also carrying 30 sacks of tendu leaves and lacked a fitness certificate and proper indicators. A division bench observed that while providing ex-gratia compensation to the families of the deceased or injured in a car accident may be beneficial in certain cases, when a family member passes away, no matter how much money is given, it will never be able to fill the void left in the dependents' lives, and the family as a whole is destroyed. The state should make every effort to eliminate any potential causes of a road accident fatality and to take all essential precautions. In addition, the PIL has drawn attention to Bilaspur's serious traffic problems, which have resulted in 107 fatalities over the last four years, mostly from drunk driving. There are rumours that the high accident rate is mostly caused by roadside cafes that serve alcohol. Speeding, stray animals, poor road upkeep, insufficient illumination, inadequate signs, and improper patrols are among the problems. The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety's March 29, 2022 letter was one of the materials the court cited in support of the Supreme Court's ongoing efforts to increase traffic safety. The establishment and functioning of district road safety committees in accordance with Section 315 of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 were covered in this letter. Additionally, a conference held on April 6, 2023, concentrated on harmonising protocols for electronic surveillance and enforcing road safety.
