HC issues directions on maintaining transport corpn buses, rules to scrap old vehicles
Bengaluru (PTI): The High Court of Karnataka has ordered that high-mileage government transport corporation buses should be scrapped for the safety of passengers and road users.
The order came on a petition filed by a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) driver who was convicted for culpable homicide after the bus he was driving caused an accident in which two school-going children were killed.
Noticing that the bus that was involved in the accident had run for over 10 lakh kilometres and was not in good condition, the HC issued six directions on maintaining KSRTC buses including framing of rules to scrap old vehicles.
”In this case, the said offending bus had already run more than 10,00,000 km and the vehicle was not having ignition starter, horn and brakes. The passengers, who were travelling in the said bus were compelled to push the said bus to get it started. The condition of the bus which is brought on record is quite alarming,” the HC noted.
Directing KSRTC to provide better quality buses, Justice Ramachandra D Huddar said, ”As per the rules framed by the KSRTC on completion of particular running of kilometres and such buses are bound to be scrapped and such scrapped buses should not be permitted to be used for any scheduled routes either to the cities or to villages.” The other guidelines issued by the HC include that the mechanical department of the KSRTC should certify every bus is ”fit for road”, and only such buses with the certificate should be permitted to ply on roads.
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Every year, the KSRTC authorities should obtain a certificate from the RTO concerned for all the buses and only such vehicles should be allowed to ply the roads. The HC also directed that ”There shall be periodical mechanical examination and repair of the buses.” The court had questioned the public relations officer who had stated that the North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) operates 2,300 buses which have run more than nine lakh km.
”When such a large number of people are commuting every day by buses maintained by the corporation, it is the duty of KSRTC to ensure better quality of buses to ply on the road keeping in mind the safety of the passengers who travel in KSRTC buses and also the users of the road to avoid any casualties,” the HC said.
The petitioner, Satish, was driving a KSRTC bus in Ankola on KC Road when the accident took place.
Three children, Dhananjaya (13), his brother Mrityunjaya (12) and friend Abhilash Maruti Gaonkar (12) were returning home when the bus hit them from behind.
Mrityunjaya and Abhilash died in the accident. Satish was put on trial and found guilty for culpable homicide, causing grievous hurt and rash and negligent driving. He was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for one year for culpable homicide and rash and negligent driving and two months imprisonment for causing hurt.
The Sessions Court upheld this conviction which he challenged in the HC.
The HC while upholding the conviction, modified the sentence from one year imprisonment to six months imprisonment. The HC said that the driver was negligent and he should have refused to drive a vehicle that was not in a fit condition.
”When the accused was having knowledge of the condition of the bus, the accused could have refused to take the said bus on a public road on a specified route as observed by the Trial Court. With regard to the threat by the superior officer of the accused that the accused would lose his job, the accused has to see the safety of the road users as well as inmates of the bus. But he has not thought of the same and has taken risks,” it said.
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Modified scheme to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Jan 8: The government will come up with a modified scheme by March to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide, under which they will be entitled to a maximum amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
According to Gadkari, the scheme will be applicable to all road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicles on any category of road.
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the programme, in coordination with police, hospitals and State Health Agency etc.
The programme will be implemented through an IT platform, combining the functionalities of the e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) application of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Transaction Management System of NHA.
"The broad contours of the pilot programme are -- victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of the accident," Gadkari said while addressing a press conference.
The government will come up with a modified scheme by March this year.
On March 14, 2024, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) had launched a pilot programme to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims.
The pilot programme -- initiated in Chandigarh -- was aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.
The pilot project was later expanded to six states.
The road transport and highways minister also said the government is studying labour laws to frame a policy for fixing working hours for commercial drivers, on the lines of pilots, as driver fatigue is resulting in fatal road crashes, Gadkari said, adding that India is facing a shortage of 22 lakh drivers.
MoRTH organised a two-day workshop on January 6, and 7, 2025 to holistically deliberate issues, solutions and next steps to be taken to help drive transformation in India's road transport sector.
During the two-day workshop, accelerating implementation of Vehicle Scrapping Policy, pan-India adoption of PUCC 2.0, timelines for introduction of BS-VII norms were discussed, along with expected reduction in pollution with the norms.
Gadkari also launched the scheme for pan-India setup of Driver Training Institutes (DTI) which provides incentives for setting up DTIs and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of ATSs and DTIs.
The minister stressed on the introduction of specific regulations and guidelines for improving E-Rickshaw safety, given the proliferation of e-rickshaws across the country.
Gadkari said deliberations were done for introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) for trucks and strict enforcement of retro reflective tape for transport vehicle safety.
Implementation of monitoring centers & vehicle location tracking devices (VLTD) for safety of women and children were also discussed.
The meeting also discussed the launch and integration of all faceless services by the end of March 2025.
"Further, a Committee of Secretaries with representatives from States, MoRTH and NIC will work towards standardization of faceless services modules, document standardization for registration," he added.
