Supreme Court made an important comment, 'it is not the job of the court to set the speed limit on the highway'

The Supreme Court has said that the courts have no business in setting the speed limit on roads, national highways, and expressways. Because these have to be decided by experts and notified by the government.

According to media reports, a bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan on Friday dismissed the order of a single judge of the Madras High Court. In which the increased speed limit under the 2018 notification was canceled.

The High Court judge had asked the Ministry of Road Transport to re-implement the speed limit fixed in 2015. The speed limit on the expressway was increased from 100 kmph to 120 kmph.

The High Court judge had issued the directions in a case related to a motor accident claim filed by the mother of a minor who was left 90 percent disabled after being hit by a speeding vehicle. The High Court had enhanced the compensation amount awarded by the MACT from Rs 18 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore.

The Supreme Court explained that it was not interfering with the compensation order and added that it was not challenged by the Central government, which had questioned the High Court's decision to reduce the speed limit.

"For an unfortunate accident, the courts cannot reduce the speed of the vehicles on roads, national highways, and expressways. We cannot slow down the pace of this country in this way," said the Supreme Court.