Former Karnataka High Court Judge AV Chandrashekar, stereotactic and functional neurosurgeon Sharan Srinivasan, executive director and chief medical and rehabilitation director of PRS Neurosciences Prathiba Sharan during a press briefing at the Press club in Bengaluru on Thursday. | Photo credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.
Legal and medical experts on Thursday called for a reset of how neurological disabilities caused by traffic accidents are assessed and compensated, urging courts to move away from anatomy-based medical judgments to task-based functional disability frameworks.
The call was made at a press conference after a panel discussion on “Neuro Justice Framework: Motor Accident Cases – Head Injuries and Medical and Legal Pain Points” organized by the Bar Association, Bengaluru, with Rebooting the Brain (PRS Neurosciences).
former Karnataka High Court Judge AV Chandrashekar; Advocate and President of the Bar Association, Bengaluru, Vivek Reddy; Senior Advocate Chethana Bhat; stereotactic and functional neurosurgeon and PRS Neurosciences CMD Sharan Srinivasan; PRS Neurosciences CEO and Chief Medical and Rehabilitation Officer Prathiba Sharan; and insurance law expert Manjunath were among the panellists.
Speakers pointed out that while India recorded about 1.77 lakh road deaths in 2024, official statistics do not capture the much larger number of survivors left with lifelong neurological disabilities from head, spinal cord and nerve injuries. Many of these disorders are invisible, have a delayed onset and are difficult to quantify using conventional medical reports, they said.
Dependence
The panel noted that motor vehicle accident claim cases involving neurological injuries contribute significantly to litigation and trials. Judges are often required to assess lifelong functional disability and loss of earning capacity based on anatomy-based medical assessments that do not adequately reflect actual functioning, employability or independent living.
Medical experts at PRS Neurosciences stressed that no single test or scan can capture real-life brain function, which is why task-based, contextual and long-term assessments are essential for fairness and accuracy.
Dr. Noting that neurological injuries more often than not leave no visible scars, Srinivasan said, “Sufferers may appear physically normal, but struggle with cognition, emotional regulation, decision-making, and the ability to return to work.”
It’s not easy to show
Because such disabilities are not easily proven, claimants often face skepticism, prolonged hearings, and repeated litigation. This results in inconsistent compensation, additional emotional and financial strain on families and additional delays in the justice system, panel members said.
Former Justice Mr. Chandrashekar noted that courts lack scalable tools to translate complex neurological disorders into legally actionable conclusions, despite repeated judicial recognition of the problem.
The absence of standardized methods of functional assessment leads to disputes, appeals and delays, affecting both victims and insurers. The panel emphasized the need for structured, judicially reliable functional assessment systems consistent with neuroscience principles and discussed the responsible use of artificial intelligence as a judicial decision support tool to improve consistency and reduce dependency without replacing judicial discretion.
The discussion also marked the launch of the proposed National Neuro Justice Movement, aimed at fostering sustained collaboration between legal institutions, medical professionals and policy makers to shift India’s approach from anatomy-based assessment to functional justice based on lived reality.
Published – 18 Dec 2025 22:05 IST
