Jayshree Mohan: The basic human instinct prompts one to stop for a man who is lying on the road injured in a road mishap. But the next moment he finds so many lame excuses like "getting late", "wastage of time", "someone from the crowd will help", it's his fate" and moves forward towards his destination.

To top it all the exaggerated tales of police excesses have dug themselves deep into the common man's mind which deters him from coming forward to help the man in distress. So he prefers to remain a spectator and vouch these excuses to remain guilt-free before his own conscience. But being a human being, it is our moral duty to help the man who at that moment needs "help" and who is at the mercy of the people near him at that moment.

A few words to pacify him will help him regain his confidence. Lifting him up, giving him a glass of water, providing him some first aid etc {depending upon the availability of these things} are some of the things we can do. There are no set rules, depending upon the gravity of the accident and the condition of the victim we are to act. Informing the police station about the whereabouts of the accident-site and the victim is one of the first and foremost things we should do.

If the condition of the person is too serious, the arrangement should be done to get the person to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible. Let us become the leader of the situation and take the initiative, the people from the crowd will certainly come forward. The person's identity card, mobile or any papers {if found} can be used to trace down his relatives. Inform them through the phone. The "will" in ourselves will find out suitable ways to help the injured person and see to it that his life is saved. Just because the police is going to harass, we should not leave the injured & helpless man to himself.

What is needed is a strong "will" to help the injured man, "awareness" that some actions of the police are part of their job and are unavoidable and the "determination" to take a little risk to save a man's life. Our timely intervention and help matters the most at that time. And tomorrow who knows the roles may be reversed...it might be "I" or "you" on the road lying helpless in front of a crowd of mute spectators. So let us not be part of such a crowd but be in the forefront to save the person and "humanity" at large.

Sushmita Shrivastava: It is the duty and responsibility of every citizen to provide assistance to the accident victim. An accident can happen with anyone. We can meet with accident any time or our kin or near and dear ones can also be the victim of unfortunate mishaps.

If we don't help the mishap victims, how we can hope to get the help when we require it. Following the Supreme Court order in 1989, the Motor Vehicles Act was amended in 1994, to make it mandatory for both the driver/owner of the vehicle to take the accident victim to the nearest doctor, and the doctor to treat the victim without waiting for any formalities.

The provisions of Section 134, Motor Vehicles Act 1988 read state that when any person is injured or any property of a third party is damaged, as a result of an accident in which a motor vehicle is involved the driver of the vehicle or other person in charge of the vehicles will take all reasonable steps to secure medical attention for the injured person

(by conveying him to the nearest medical practitioner or hospital) unless it is not practicable to do so on account of mob fury or any other reason beyond his control.

Similarly all the persons present at the site of the victim must extend every possible assistance to the victim. The authorities in our country, unfortunately, do not act quickly enough and we can't depend on them. Therefore we ourselves should rush the victim to the hospital as soon as possible in order to save his or her life.

RJ Khurana: Yes, one must stop to help an injured person in a road mishap. It is a legal as well as a moral duty. Those who neglect doing this duty are guilty on both counts-legal and moral.

Most of us do not stop to help an injured person fearing repeated calls from the police for appearing before them at the investigation stage for recording statement or appearing before a magistrate at the prosecution stage for recording evidence.

I accept that these are genuine concerns for our criminal justice system tends to be rather demanding in terms of time, money, and convenience. However, all said and done the reward of having done a good deed of saving a life should outweigh all the expenses and inconveniences. A good deed is a recompense by itself.

Sivda: I totally disagree with this statement. By his innermost nature man is a social being and unless he himself relates to others he can neither live nor develop his potential. So strange to see such people tend to be so unbending toward a road mishap victim.

How can they leave a person in a miserable situation. People should know their rights and duties. This means give and take is necessary to keep human relations. Ironically this unfortunate incident can take place anywhere and any of us could be in the darker path. Just help the needy person in an alarming situation.

It will be a risk factor because first of all we have to spend time and money for their hospitalization and in case the accident is serious, it may become a police case also. Due to fear in the mind most of the people keep themselves away from helping a person injured in a road accident.

Is it worth taking the risk, many deep thinkers will ask. Whereas one should not worry or fret about what will happen next. Humanity must come first. There is no excuse if you say I don't have time to help the needy in times of emergencies like a road accident. Feel the calmness of your soul when you save a person's life from your busy schedule.

Their blessings and good wishes will do a lot of miracles in your career and life. The smallest act of helping and caring for the needs of others has the potential to turn a life around.

AB Mehta: It is our moral duty to stop and help a person injured in a road mishap. Unfortunately the past experience with the police authorities have given those trying to help a bitter taste. Instead of thanking them the police starts with blaming them for inaccurate description, not having the number of the hit and run vehicle, detaining him for hours to take his statement and even assuming that in fact he is involved in the accident.

People, in general, are ready to be helpful, honest, generous and so on but the experience with victims and authorities make them cautious and choosing not to get involved. Even hospitals, who are duty bound to give emergency treatment, hesitate fearing the tough time that would be given by the police authorities. The government hospitals are more concerned about completing the paper work rather than provide immediate help to the injured to save his or her life. By and large the police personnel still have the pre-independence mindset of not believing general public and showing them their power. The motto 'service before self' is only for publicity.

At the same time people have become more materialistic and only do that which can give them some benefit and does not waste their time. The life has become more competitive and one is not in a position to loose or waste time in other people's welfare. Laws are there to protect people who come forward to help and the hospitals that give emergency treatment. But they are not given publicity and even if people know them, they do not want to take the risk due to the reasons given above.

SN Patra: Suppose you are injured on the road. Someone has to come to help you. If no one stops seeing you bleeding profusely or under a vehicle, in the drain or at a lonely place, God helps you through some strange human being. If no one were to stop imagine what would be your fate.

Most people offer the lame excuse of harassment by the police if you register your presence at the site of the accident or an attack. Such inconvenience is nothing as against the good you are doing to the injured. When you help someone then only another strange person shall help you.

Sumit Dhanraj: No, not at all! One should help a person injured in a road mishap because as a human being it is our duty to help others. It may happen that at some other time we may get injured and there may be nobody to help us or there may be someone to help. We ought to help anybody for that matter who is in need not because we want to receive any favour or gift but because it is our duty towards other.

At least remembering Immanuel Kant and his words, "Duty for the sake of duty."

In Hinduism, it is mentioned that one should do action without expecting anything in return. One must sow the seeds or plant a tree without expecting a fruit from it. We should follow the principle of "Nishkama karma".

In Christianity, we see the best example given by Jesus in the parable of good Samaritan. If one finds someone injured on the road or for case in anyother matter it is ones prior responsibility to go out of oneself to help other. This selfless attitude of helping nature and loving kindness toward others will save life of others.

It will bring life to somebody else through our generous and loving act. Therefore, everybody who can feel, think, see, hear, touch,and listen to others cry must help others as a human person without having fear of anybody.

Syed Zia Ul Hasan Naqvi: It's like a human being if we stop for helping a person who has been injured in a road mishap. In case if we don't help an injured person who is stuck and helpless and writhing in pain on the road, and his condition is pathetic then it is very inhuman and also a sin not to attend such a person.

We should help such accident victims without any loss of time so that they may get medical help in time and save their lives. Because of legal and police implications people are reluctant to help accident victims, though by heart they are interested in helping such people. In spite of all difficulties we should stop and help the road mishap victims at any cost. In case if we will not provide medical help in time then there is every possibility for the loss of a precious life. Which will create a havoc in the lives of many other persons.

Jaskaran Singh Dhami: People look at the injured person spread-eagled on the road or writhing around in pain, feel pity for the victim, soliloquize criticism of the people for not following the safety norms and for flouting traffic rules and leave the accident place as soon as possible.

Reason? Nobody wants to get entangled in police enquiry. Your good intentions may land you in a lot of trouble and cause disruption in your daily routine. So, better be on your way! What or who is responsible for this callous and escapist attitude of the people? Can we blame the police? No. They are duty bound to interrogate the case.

As everybody knows there is no place for feelings and emotions when a case is looked into. Needle of suspicion may sometimes even point towards you. If you were present at the place of accident and helped an injured person, naturally you are the important person for extracting information about the incident and finding the guilty. Your questioning is inevitable and it may take more than one session entailing your presence at the police station or police visiting your residence or office.

No, we should not be so insensitive and spineless that we flee leaving a person or persons in the jaws of death just because we anticipate some harassment by the police. Our timely action may save a precious life or many lives. A little harassment is a pittance in comparison to the contentment we get from sense of duty and sense of achievement after helping a needy person. We must stop and help the person injured in a road mishap. It does not mean that we add to the crowd of onlookers or in our over-enthusiasm overreact and create complications and obstruct the actions.

If we find some other heedful, sagacious persons taking the right action and our services are not required, we need not stop. A crowd on such occasions creates commotion which results in lethal delays in urgent help. If police make their method of enquiry more humane and refined to avoid harassment of those who do a noble duty by helping an injured person and if such acts are commended, it will go a long way in exorcising the police phobia. Training in first aid and in the course of action in cases of injuries in road or rail mishaps should be made compulsory in schools and colleges which will help people saving many precious lives by taking right action after mishaps. Jaskaran Singh Dhami

Subodh Shrivastava: In this fast moving world, nobody has time to wait for things. So everybody is trying to move himself from one place to another. He is using fastest means to reach from one place to another.

In a city there are buses, Auto-richshaws, Tonga, bicycles, taxis as means of conveyance. Bus takes much time, therefore, two-wheelers are mostly used by the people to reach from one place to the other. Due to rash driving, poor condition of roads, improper speed-breakers, accidents take place. Hundreds of people meet accidents on the roads.

Some are involved in serious road mishaps and sometimes due to lack of help several lives are lost. Many times the private nursing homes and even government hospitals refuse medical help to an injured person on account of incomplete accident formalities. They ask for the victim's relatives, ask for the FIR in police station and withhold treatment till full hospital charges are paid. The helping person thus stands stunned.

Therefore the people try to refrain themselves from helping person injured in a road mishap. But on humanitarian grounds, one should help such persons. Because this could help the injured person to get proper medical aid well in time and reduce his suffering. This help can save a life. Life is precious. Think of a family whose earning member was lost in an accident. The laws should also be simplified that everyone can come to help a person injured in a road mishap.

Dr Visal A Khan: AIR 1989 Supreme Court 2039, the case of Pandit Parmanand Katara vs Union of India in Criminal Writ Petition No.270 of 1988, D/-28.8.1989. The Honourable Supreme Court of India has observed: Every injured citizen brought for medical treatment should instantaneously be given medical aid to preserve life and thereafter the procedural criminal law should be allowed to operate in order to avoid negligent death. There is no legal impediment for a medical professional when he is called upon or requested to attend to an injured person needing his medical assistance immediately. The effort to save the person should be the top priority not only of the medical professional but even of the police or any other citizen who happens to be connected with that matter or who happens to notice such an incident or a situation. There are no provisions in the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Motor Vehicles Act, which prevents doctors from promptly attending to serious injured persons and accident cases before arrival of the police and their taking into cognizance of such cases, preparation of FIR and other formalities by Police.

There can be no second opinion that preservation of human life is of paramount importance. This is so on account of the fact that once life is lost, the status quo ante cannot be restored, as resurrection is beyond the capacity of man.

Every doctor whether at a Govt hospital or otherwise has the professional obligation to extend his services with due expertise for protecting life. No law or State action can intervene to avoid delay the discharge of the paramount obligation cast upon members of the medical profession.

The obligation being total, absolute and paramount, laws of procedure whether in status or otherwise which would interfere with the discharge of this obligation cannot be sustained and must, therefore, give way, the treatment of the patient should not wait for the arrival of the police or completion of legal formalities. All hospitals and doctors are required to provide immediate medical aid to all the cases, whether medico-legal or not Under sec.134 a- take all reasonable steps to secure medical attention for the injured person by conveying him to the nearest medical practitioner or hospital, duty of every registered medical practitioner or the doctor on the duty in the hospital immediately to attend the injured person and render medical aid or treatment without waiting for any procedural formalities. So it is our foremost duty to help an injured in road mishap on top priority, to save one's life.

RK Kutty: Already it is stopped, then why this question again in the Open Forum is my question. A couple of months back, a young, very energetic boy viz. Kukreja had met with an accident right in front of the Naman Hospital at Trilanga very early in the morning before the day break. The boy could have got at least some medical attention had he been timely attended to by the hospital staff. They didn't, as the present law doesn't allow them to do so. The larger question to be debated is whether a life is more precious or following the nitty-gritty of the law at the cost of life. If a hospital takes the liberty in attending to the victim of a road mishap and unfortunately in that process the victim dies, all their good Samaritan efforts would go waste and in return they would be buying more problems in the form of attending the courts and if the case too turns against them the penalty thereof would depend up on the gravity of the case. I still remember the plight of a friend of mine who acted as Good Samaritan, just helped in lifting a victim up to the nearest KNK Hospital, Jawahar Chowk where an MPSRTC bus hit a cyclist and the lady behind the pillion was badly injured. Although, my friend simultaneously ran up to the nearby PS, as desired by the hospital authorities, but later he had to finish most of his Casual Leave in order to attend the court hearings where his presence as the main informer was required.

Finally, he vowed never again to attempt such good deeds in life. Recently, I read a humorous statement of the Chief Metropolitan of the Marthoma Church "Most Rev. Christostom based on Christ's parable on the Good Samaritan. Himself being the Priest, passing through that way on a Sunday, he contends that his congregation wouldn't have allowed him to continue pasturing in contemporary times, had he attended that victim and came late for doing his Priestly work. It is plain truth, nothing but only the truth.

Vivian Lobo: If every effort has limit then those who cross it get negative results. But we still have saints who elucidate that effort is never limitless. Let us look at Communist China, which emulated the principle of 'Nishkamakarma' as its people worked neck and crop when the earthquake struck the province, they never asked as to what if we land into any problems by helping our companions?

If we analyse the context of a road mishap what makes rack our brains is the police court and lot many uninvited problems. But does this goes to say, " If you are with a wolf, you must howl like a wolf." Obviously not! We are not rational 'animals' any more we are thinking 'beings' who have an organ that illuminates with compassion and that emboldens us to help and get helped.

India is called land of faith, hope and trust our population has plenty of orphans, widows and dejected people, if not many but few for sure have shelter to live, food to drink: have we stopped thinking about them, no! Then why forget someone struggling for life on the road.

One may face an inconvenience for a short time, but may end up in saving a precious life.

There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so. We may have hundred lame excuses to justify, but let us remember one thing " one man with courage makes majority. "If we ignore the victim today; tomorrow we will have our turn and no good samaritan will turn up. There is an old saying: " I shall pass this way but once: any good therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can share to any human being, let me dot it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." Therefore Reach out! Reach out! in giving and sharing believing and caring reach out to others even on the road reach out !

Krishna Chander Mouli: It should be a humanitarian trait of every human being to help every other living being, what of humans alone, in distress. By and large this characteristic is manifest in almost every human being all over the world.

Perhaps this is the only characteristic that is universal. So far so good. When we advocate stopping on way to help a person injured in a road mishap in the Indian context, specially in Madhya Pradesh's context, it is just like inviting a mishap on one's own self. Nothing could be more ideal in once's life than rushing to the rescue of an injured in a road-mishap.

But this spirit of idealism is vanished in the wilderness the moment police intervenes with its archaic and insensitive investigation. Here is a real life incident to corroborate my observation. It was a rainy morning of July 23, 1986 at Jabalpur . I was in my official Ambassador with my driver on the wheel on my way to the Divisional Commissioner's residence to attend a meeting about the flood control measures and rescue squads in the districts of Jabalpur division.

A boy aged around 2l, perhaps a student, was riding a motor bike before my car at a reasonable distance. He suddenly applied brakes at a cross section of roads without noticing that another four wheeler a military jeep was fast approaching him from his left side road which hit him with full force.

My driver by then had already slowed down and applied the lower gears and brakes for the simple reason that he was required to take a right turn to reach the destination. But after seeing the boy lying unconscious before us and having seen the jeep zooming off without any concern for the seriously injured person, without wasting even a second I with the help of my driver lifted the boy into the car and rushed to a nearby hospital while informing the police on way.

Police promptly arrived at the hospital. But instead of taking charge of the unconscious boy and hasten medical aid , they started interrogating with insulting,awkward and silly questions like TUM KAUN HO?( who are you ) TUMHARA LICENSE KAHAN HAI ?( where is your license) GAADI CHALAANA NAHI AATA? (don't you know driving?) MUJHE TUMHARA STATEMENT RECORD KARNA HAI, KHADE RAHO (I have to record your statement keep standing) (MAI TUMHE 302 ME BOOK KAROONGA AUR CAR SEIZE KAROONGA ). All this was very embarrassing for me. Only when I rang up the SP and narrated the whole episode and when the policeman on duty, who had almost detained me for perhaps an impending arrest , was sufficiently drubbed b y the SP on phone, I could save my honour and proceed further.

If such things could happen to senior class I government officer on duty, who would dare to stop on way to help an injured in a road mishap ? Still I advocate that human beings should be sensitive to such situations and behave like human beings without worrying about our most insensitive policewala.

RK Gupta: The road accidents have attained a new dimension in the State capital, Bhopal . Unfortunately one dozen accidents take place everyday in which at least two persons get injured seriously and on an average 20 persons die in a month due to accidents.

For these accidents high speed of the vehicles, growing population, encroachments on roads, irregular traffic and carelessness on part of the drivers, are to be blamed. Life is a gift of God but it is very painful if even a single life is lost in a road mishap. Actually the whole family and the society itself suffers.

About 250 persons die in road accidents every year out of which 70% are young people, mostly students. Now, high speed bikes and cars have been launched which are not so suitable for the Indian roads which are not properly maintained and repaired.

Many lives can be saved if proper care and precautions are taken by following the traffic rules. The Ayodhya bypass, Nishatpura bypass road, Misrod highway, Raisen road and Bairagarh KHajuri roads have become death spots. Now, it is the responsibility of every citizen who passes during such accidents to stop and help the victim of the mishap with full sincerity. First and foremost, water should be proved to the victim and in case of injuries the nearby hospital should be contacted.

One should not forget that every second is precious to save a life. At Nagpur , at every dangerous death spot, an ambulance is kept in readiness and within no time, the necessary medical aid is provided to the injured. Thus combined efforts are the only way to overcome such a menace.

SS Chitwadgi: At the very outset any injured person deserves help but when one is injured in a road mishap, there is always a chance that whoever helps gets involved in a long procedure of Police esquire. In fact the Police procedure is long and Police themselves become helpless due to the laid down long procedures of filing an FIR.

The injury or accident is a subject to the court desicion. The court summarily tries in such cases and awards punishment on the basis of FIR without examining the witnesses. I quote an incident where a man on scooter happened to dash against the car I was sitting in the front seat. The car belonged to my friend who drove it.

We saw the scooter driver was back on his vehicle and we satisfied ourselves that there was no injury on him and to anybody nearby our car. Lo! Behold we learn that my friend was served with a summons in the above incident. We checked up the matter at the Police station and found that the scooter driver had complained against the car driver. We were surprised as to why and how the Police could take cognizance of the scooter driver's compliant when we were sure there was no injury to him nor any damage to his scooter. We did attend the court as per summons and paid a fine of Rs. 1000 only.

Of course no fault of his. In the court our known friend and pleaders adviced both of us to pay cash and get rid of the lengthy court procedures which calls for repeated attendance. Luckily my friend had Rs. 1000 in his pocket. He paid fine and bid goodbye to the judge and the court. This incident is an eye-opener to us and others of our ilk as a proof of "in these days vice is fed and virtue starved.". The scooter driver appears to rush at our back to complain against us to the Police. The Police in return prosecuted us and penalized merely on FIR and we certainly found it wiser to get rid of the proposed lengthy proceedings.

The proceedings would have called our attendance. We could have defended ourselves since the so called incident took place there was a traffic Police nearby. But we found an easy solution of paying the fine. Surprisingly the scooter driver was never seen. Here the road mishap includes a man injury, the Police inquiry and the Court dealings. Of course the injured could have been handled by the Police to hospitalize him. The Police must have patted their back for booking senior officers like us.