Declaring the right to safe road travel to be a part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has issued pan-India guidelines for enhancing road safety, including a ban on parking of heavy vehicles on such roads.“The ‘Right to Life’ enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is not merely a guarantee against the unlawful taking of life, but a positive mandate upon the State to ensure a safe environment where human life is preserved and valued,” a Bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice AS Chandurkar said in its April 13 order.Noting that preventable highway deaths reflect a failure of the State’s constitutional obligation to protect life, the Bench said that administrative or financial limitations cannot justify failure to ensure public safety.“We reiterate that no pecuniary or administrative constraint can outweigh the sanctity of human life,” the Bench said.Maintaining that highways must not become “corridors of peril” due to administrative negligence, the top court said the loss of even a single life to avoidable hazards reflected a breakdown of the State’s protective responsibility.The top court ordered immediate prohibition on construction/operation of any new dhaba, eatery, or commercial structure within the Right of Way (ROW) of any national highway.“District magistrates shall enforce demolition/removal of all new or existing unauthorised structures within 60 days, in terms of the CNH (The Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, 2002) Act procedure and SOP dated August 7, 2025,” it directed.No department, authority, or local body shall grant or renew any licence, NOC, or trade approval for any site within highway safety zones without prior NHAI/PWD clearance and all such existing licences for such sites shall be reviewed within 30 days, it ordered.“In every district wherever the national highway passes through, the concerned district magistrate within 15 days of this order constitute a district highway safety task force in every district across India within seven days of this order, comprising officers of the district administration, police, NHAI (or concerned land-owning agency), PWD, and local bodies,” it said.Pointing out that national highways constitute two per cent of India’s total road length but account for nearly 30 per cent of all road fatalities, the Bench directed the Ministry of Road and Transport, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and States and Union Territories to take steps to make roads safer.It directed no heavy or commercial vehicle shall park/stop on any national highway carriageway or paved shoulder except at a designated bay, lay-bye, or wayside amenity.Enforcement of the direction shall be effected through the Advanced Traffic Management System   ATMS real-time alerts to State Police, GPS   timestamped photographic evidence, and integrated eChallan generation, it said.“These directions must be complied with by the officials and personnel of National Highway Authority of India, state police, state transport department. The district magistrates of the concerned districts shall set-up a standard operating procedure for this purpose as regards periodical inspections and patrolling by all these authorities. These directions must be complied within 60 days from the date of this order,” it said.The Bench directed surveillance, patrolling and illegal parking surveillance of national highways, operationalisation of Advanced Traffic Management System ATMS comprising cameras, speed detectors, emergency response and wayside amenities, construction of truck lay-bye facilities, accident blackspots and lighting and institutional coordination, reporting and road safety committee.It directed MoRTH to file a compliance report after seeking data from different states and agencies before this court within 75 days from the date of uploading of this order.Directing that copies of its order be sent to Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of all states and Union territories for immediate implementation, the top court posted the matter after two months for reporting of compliance with its directions.The Bench had initiated a suo motu PIL on road safety last year following the tragic road accident on November 2 near Mathoda, in Phalodi district in Rajasthan that claimed 15 lives and left many seriously injured, followed by another unfortunate accident on November 3 on Mirjalguda-Khanapur road near Chevella in Rangareddy district of Telangana resulting in loss of 19 lives.