Court case(2016) 7 SCC 194

SaveLIFE Foundation, a non-governmental organisation working on road safety, filed a public interest petition under Article 32 seeking protection for bystanders and passers-by who help victims of road accidents. Studies placed before the Court showed that a large proportion of accident victims die for want of timely help, and that bystanders often hesitate to help because of the fear of police questioning, repeated summons to court, detention at hospitals and demands for payment or for their identity. During the proceedings the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued guidelines for the protection of Good Samaritans (2015) and a standard operating procedure for their examination by the police (2016), and the Court considered whether these should be given binding force.

The Supreme Court approved the guidelines and the standard operating procedure and directed that they be binding on all States and Union Territories, under Articles 32, 141 and 142, until Parliament made a law on the subject. Under them a Good Samaritan who takes an injured person to hospital may leave immediately, except after giving his address if he is an eyewitness; he is not liable for any civil or criminal action; he cannot be compelled to disclose his identity; hospitals cannot detain him or demand payment for the victim's admission; if he volunteers as a witness he is to be examined only once, at a time and place convenient to him, with the use of video conferencing where possible; and the police and hospitals must display the rights of Good Samaritans. The Court treated the protection of those who help victims as part of securing the victims' right to life under Article 21.