The Supreme Court (SC) of India has rolled out pan-India directions to improve road safety. This includes a ban on parking of heavy and commercial vehicles on national highways. The top court observed that the expressways must not become corridors of peril due to administrative lethargy or infrastructural gaps. The national highways make up for nearly 2% of India’s road network but account for nearly 30% of road fatalities, a bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar observed. The court observed that even a single avoidable death reflects a failure of the State. The Bench issued directions to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and States and Union Territories to make roads safer.
The SC linked road safety directly to the Right to Life under Article 21, observing that “the loss of even a single life to avoidable hazards like illegal parking or blackspots, represents a failure of the State’s protective umbrella.” The top court made these observations in its April 13 order. This order was passed in a suo motu case registered in the aftermath of the loss of 34 lives in successive road accidents on November 2 and 3, 2025, in Phalodi in Rajasthan, and in Telangana on the systemic negligence and infrastructure failures.
The court directed that no heavy or commercial vehicle shall stop or park on any national highway carriageway or paved shoulder except at designated bays or lay-bys. Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), GPS-based photographic evidence, and eChallan mechanisms will carry out the enforcement. NHAI, ministry of road transport and highways, state police and transport departments have been asked to comply with the court’s orders within 60 days. District Magistrates will set up standard operating procedures for inspections and patrolling. The court has also asked for the immediate ban on construction or operation of new dhabas or commercial structures within highway right of way and existing unauthorised structures must be removed within 60 days. The SC has also asked the Centre to file a compliance report within 75 days.
