Dhananjaya Behera and Others vs CESO and Others

S. Panda, J.—16.07.2010- In this Writ Petition, the Petitioners have prayed for compensation due to death of their mother in electrocution.

The facts, as narrated in the Writ Petition, are as follows:

Rama Dei @ Rama Behera wife of Baisnab Ch. Behera is the deceased-mother of the Petitioners. On 19.11.2006 at about 8.30 AM, the deceased while going to the agricultural land came in contact with the live 11 K.V. line which was lying in the agricultural field as a result of which she fell down & succumbed to the said shock at the spot. This incident having been witnessed by the villagers of Magura was intimated to Tangi Police Station & the same was registered as Tangi P.S. U.D. Case No. 17 of 2006. The Police after visited the spot, inquired into the matter, conducted an inquest over the dead body & referred the dead body to the SCB Medical College & Hospital for post-mortem. In the inquest report, it is reflected that the deceased was electrocuted. In the post-mortem report, the cause of death was also reflected due to electrocution & its complications. The age of the deceased was about 40 years. The Opp. Parties-CESU paid initial ex gratia compensation of Rs. 5000 in presence of the police & the local people. They ensured for early settlement of the claim in favour of the Petitioners. However, as they did not take any step to pay the just & fair compensation, the Petitioners have approached this Court by filing this Writ Petition.

They have stated that their father is a mentally retarded person. Petitioners 2 & 3 are minors & Petitioner No. 1 though aged about 18 years having no income, they were depending on the deceased-mother who was working as a labourer.

Opp. Parties 1 to 4 have filed their counter affidavit taking a stand that due to fury/action of nature (A gust of wind & lightening at previous night of incident), the said incident was beyond the control of the Opp. Parties. However, they have admitted that on humanitarian point of view they handed over a cash of Rs. 5000 to Petitioner No. 1 for the funeral ceremony of the deceased. They intimated the said incident to Opp. Party No. 1. Opp. Party No. 4 lodged an FIR before the IIC, Tangi P.S. on 19.11.2006. They found that 11 K.V. line was snapped between 22nd & 23rd pole from Korual D.P. for the action of the nature during the fateful night. The deceased came in contact with the snapped conductor which was getting voltage through the transformer primary winding. The fuse was replaced & the supply was restored'' after 9.30 A.M. next day.

From the above facts stated in the counter, it appears that though the Opp. Parties have denied about their responsibility & stated that the incident was an act of God, the fact remains that live electric line was snapped. Even though they were aware about the fact that during the night in question there was a heavy storm & lightening, they only disconnected the line by replacing the fuse after receiving the information that the electricity supply line was snapped as stated in the above paragraphs & restored the line at 9.30 A.M. next day.

In the present case, after incident took place it had been informed to the Tangi Police Station. The police after visited the spot, prepared the inquest report & sent the dead body for post-mortem examination. The inquest report & post-mortem report both reveal that the death was due to electrocution. Opp. Party No. 4 lodged an FIR before the IIC Tangi P.S. which confirmed regarding the incident. Opp. Parties were negligent after knowing the fact that due to vast wind & lightening of previous night incident took place. In spite of the said knowledge, they did not disconnect the electric line in order to ensure that no incident took place affecting public at large. Therefore, Opp. Parties are negligent & responsible for the incident in question.

This Court in OJC No. 63391 of 1997 (Nirmala Nayak and Ors. v. Chairman-cum- Managing Director, Grid Corporation of Orissa Ltd., and Anr.) disposed of on 11.5.2005 in similar facts & circumstances granted compensation to the claimants. This Court in the case of Ketaki Lenka and Anr. v. CESO and Ors. reported in 2007 (1) CLR 516 also disposed of a similar case.

No doubt, mother''s contribution to a family is well known & everybody in the family depends on her in so many respects. She is the queenpin of the family.

Taking into consideration the facts & circumstances of the case & in view of the decisions of the aforesaid cases, this Court grants compensation of Rs. 1,00.000 (rupees one lakh) with 6% simple interest from the date of filing of this Writ Petition. Therefore, this Court directs Opp. Parties to make the calculation & deposit the amount either in cash or by way of cheque with the Registrar (Judicial) of the Court within a period of four weeks from today. Out of the said amount, Rs. 30.000 (thirty thousand) each shall be kept in fixed deposit in the name of Petitioners 1 to 3 & the balance amount shall be disbursed in their favour on proper identification.

With the aforesaid direction, the Writ Petition is disposed of.