Court laments police failure to rescue road mishap victim

Police does not reach an accident site for hours to rescue a victim as the government spends crores of rupees to turn the national capital into a world- class city, a court here has said.
"It is tragic that while Government is spending crores of rupees to make Delhi a world-class city, at the ground level the state machinery, i.E the police as in this case, does not reach to rescue a victim of road traffic accident for hours together," the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) said.
Referring to a specific instance, MACT Presiding Officer Santosh Snehi Mann expressed displeasure over laxity of the police in reaching out to such a victim who was seriously injured and kept crying for help at a flyover here throughout the night, even as several Police Control Room (PCR) vans passed by. The victim was rescued by an e-rickshaw driver the next morning.

He said such incidents not only shake the confidence of people, but also raise concern about the relevance and credibility of a welfare state.
The tribunal observed that as per various studies reported in the media, Delhi has the dubious distinction of having a high number of deaths in road accidents, including alarmingly high number of deaths in hit-and-run cases.
"From the facts of this case, it is very likely that many victims of hit-and-run cases would be dying a tragic death on the Delhi roads crying for help, who could be saved by timely help," it said.

The tribunal directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) to inquire into the matter, fix responsibility of erring officials, take action and file a report before it.

It also sent a copy of order to the Principal Secretary (Transport Department) of Delhi Government and Joint Commissioner of Delhi Traffic Police for necessary action.
The accident had taken place on the night of July 27, 2014 when 37-year-old Devender, a resident of Gurgaon, was walking on Tilak Nagar flyover near metro station and was hit by a speeding private bus which came from the wrong side.
The FIR said after hitting the man, the vehicle fled from the spot and the victim fell on the road suffering severe injuries, including multiple fractures on a leg and shoulder.