The Allahabad High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the death of nine passengers in a fire that engulfed an AC sleeper bus on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida, raising concerns over the safety standards, inspection and operation of sleeper buses in Uttar Pradesh.
The incident occurred late on September 23 near the 33-km mark of the Yamuna Expressway in the Jewar area. The Bihar-registered sleeper bus was travelling from Delhi’s Kashmere Gate to Mahoba with around 35 passengers when it caught fire. Nine passengers died, while others managed to escape. Police have arrested the driver and conductor as part of the investigation.
The High Court took note of media reports describing the incident and also referred to data placed before Parliament indicating that around 45 bus-fire incidents between January 2023 and December 10, 2025 had resulted in 64 deaths and 145 injuries across the country. The Court further noted previous fatal bus-fire incidents in Uttar Pradesh, including accidents on the Raebareli-Prayagraj-Lucknow Highway in 2023, the Kannauj-Lucknow-Agra Expressway in 2024 and the Yamuna Expressway in December 2025, where 13 people were killed.
The Court expressed concern that AC sleeper buses appeared to be operating without adequate checks and safeguards and questioned whether drivers and conductors were sufficiently trained to respond to emergencies.
The bench of Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery was subsequently informed by the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Additional Chief Secretary (Transport) about the accident and steps taken, including criminal proceedings. On the issue of checking sleeper buses, the Court was told about measures undertaken by the Transport Department. However, the Court observed that there was still scope for improvement and called for regular and intensified checking of such buses.
The Court also examined the applicable Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) relating to buses. It noted that AIS-052 deals with general bus body design, AIS-119 with sleeper coach specifications and AIS-135 with fire detection and suppression systems.
The Court noted several safety requirements under these standards, including restrictions on vehicle height, prescribed emergency exits and gangway dimensions. It further noted that fire detection and suppression standards contemplate automated aerosol or foam systems in the engine bay and low-pressure water-mist systems in passenger cabins, along with driver drowsiness alert systems. The Court observed:
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“The Court is not informed, whether the bus which was involved in accident in question has followed aforesaid mandates or not and if it has not followed aforesaid mandates, the authorities are directed to initiate proper action not only against Driver and Conductor but the Licensee also. Even a decision can be taken to ban buses of such licensee.”
The Chief Secretary assured the Court that the matter would be personally examined and that joint inspections would be carried out, particularly at night, since sleeper buses generally operate during nighttime. Authorities were also directed to verify whether such buses stop at designated locations.
The High Court has sought detailed affidavits from the concerned departments covering the number of sleeper-bus permits issued by Uttar Pradesh during the last three years, whether safety standards were checked before permits were granted, inspection points at State borders, surprise checks and whether passengers, emergency exits, fire extinguishers and the preparedness of drivers and conductors were examined during inspections.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 13, 2026.
