The Supreme Court has directed the Union Government to give wide publicity to the Compensation to Victims (Interim Relief) Scheme, 2026, framed under Section 164A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, so that road accident victims actually know they can claim interim compensation.

A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan called the scheme an 'unannounced law', observing that a beneficial law is meaningless if the common person does not know it exists.

The directions were passed on October 16 in the long-running road safety case S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India, while hearing contempt petitions over non-compliance with earlier orders; the matter is next listed on November 25, 2026.

The Court directed the Union to publish the scheme in the Official Gazette at the earliest and to inform the Court by the next hearing how it proposes to make the scheme operational. It also asked the Centre to clarify whether the scheme covers accidents involving uninsured vehicles, after amicus curiae Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal and an applicant pointed out that the scheme as framed appeared confined to cases involving insured vehicles.

Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee told the Court the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had framed the scheme and had written on February 23 to Chief Secretaries of all states to circulate it — a revelation that surprised both the amicus and the applicant, who had no prior knowledge the scheme existed.

Section 164A, which empowers the Centre to frame interim-relief schemes, came into force on April 1, 2022 but remained unimplemented for three years; on April 28, 2025 the Court had directed the Centre to frame the scheme within four months.

Sources: Live Law, Bar and Bench, LawChakra.