The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned why the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) cannot introduce an electronic surveillance system capable of immediately detecting vehicles that are stationary or illegally parked on highways.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta raised the issue while hearing a suo motu case arising from the November 2025 road accident in Rajasthan’s Phalodi area in which 15 people were killed.
Senior advocate A N S Nadkarni, assisting the court as amicus curiae, drew the bench’s attention to recent road accidents linked to vehicles being parked on highways.
The bench observed that the NHAI has sufficient resources and asked why an electronic mechanism could not be put in place to instantly track any vehicle found stationary or parked on highways.
An advocate appearing in the matter informed the court that the NHAI conducts highway patrols.
Court To Consider Highway Encroachment Applications
The Supreme Court was also told that several interlocutory applications have been filed in the proceedings. It posted the matter for October 13 and said it would take up applications relating to the removal of encroachments from highways.
During an earlier hearing in September, the court had raised concerns over both encroachments and stationary vehicles on national highways.
At that stage, counsel for the NHAI informed the bench that circulars had been issued for regular inspections and patrolling to prevent unauthorised parking. The amicus had identified illegal parking on highways as one of the major causes contributing to road accidents.
Case Stems From Phalodi Accident
The Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter in November last year following the November 2 accident near Matoda village in Rajasthan’s Phalodi area.
A tempo traveller returning from the Kolayat temple in Bikaner and heading towards Jodhpur had rammed into a stationary trailer truck on the Bharat Mala Highway. Fifteen people lost their lives in the accident.
On April 13, the court issued several interim directions aimed at improving highway safety. It directed that heavy and commercial vehicles must not park or stop on the carriageway or paved shoulder of any national highway except at designated bays, lay-byes or wayside amenities.
The court also barred the construction or operation of any new dhaba, eatery or commercial structure within the right of way of a national highway.
It further directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the NHAI to identify accident blackspots and critical stretches and publish a comprehensive list of accident blackspots on national highways.
The Supreme Court had noted that national highways make up around 2 per cent of India’s total road network but account for nearly 30 per cent of road fatalities. It had stressed that high-speed roads and expressways should not become dangerous corridors because of administrative inaction or infrastructure deficiencies.
