Law must come to rescue of good Samaritans, says Delhi High Court
New Delhi, December 9
A person who chooses to help a person in distress should not be harassed for showing kindness and if he or she suffers in the process, the law must come to his/her rescue, the Delhi High Court has said.
The court’s observation came while granting interim payment of over Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the widow of a truck driver, who died in 2018 while helping a victim of a road accident.
“While he was returning back to his vehicle, which by all probabilities was properly parked on the sideway, he got struck by another unknown speeding vehicle and sustained injuries… We have to assume that being
a ‘Good Samaritan’, he stopped his truck and responded to somebody in distress,” said Justice Dharmesh Sharma in a recent order.
The claims commissioner’s had refused to grant compensation on the ground that the deceased added peril when he met with an accident at own will, which was not in the course of his employment.
The court stated that in the present case, there was no evidence before the commissioner to exclude the employer’s liability for payment of compensation under the Employee’s Compensation Act on account of any blemish on the part of the driver, including that he was under the influence of any alcohol or drug.
