CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Vs. ANJANA PRUSTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This intra-Court Appeal has been filed assailing the judgment dated 10-8-2016 passed by the learned single Judge in W.P.(C) No. 8977 of 2009 directing the appellants herein to pay the interim compensation of Rs. 1,00,000/- (one lakh) to the respondent (writ petitioner) within a period of two months, and further permitting the petitioner to work out her remedies in the common law forum for higher compensation.

(2.) Brief statement of facts relevant for adjudication of this appeal is that one Lokanath Prusty (deceased father of the respondent) while returning home after collecting firewood on 4-7-2006 at about 8 a.m., came in contact with 11 KV High Tension overhead line, as a result of which, he died instantaneously. The nephew of the deceased Lokanatha reported the matter before the O.I.C., Tangi Police Station. Accordingly, UD Case No. 12 of 2006 was registered. After inquest, the dead body was sent to S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack for autopsy. Post-mortem report revealed the cause of death to be contact with the electric wire. Accordingly, final form was submitted disclosing the cause of death due to electric shock. It also indicated that there was no suspicion of any play. As the family was in distress, the respondent had represented to the appellant No.1 on 4-1-2008 for payment of compensation, which remained, un-responded. Accordingly, she had filed Writ Petition bearing W.P.(C) No.8977 of 2009 for compensation.

(3.) Learned single Judge, taking into consideration the rival contentions of the parties and case laws reported in 2015 (1) OLR 637 : (2015 AAC 578 (Ori)) (T. Bimala v. Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Cuttack and others); AIR 2005 MP 2 (Ramesh Singh Pawar v. Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board and others); AIR 2002 SC 551 (M.P. Electricity Board v. Shail Kumar and others), and 1868 Law Reports (3) HL 330 (Rylands v. Fletcher) held that the opposite parties cannot shirk from their responsibility on trivial grounds. For the lackadaisical attitude exhibited by the opposite parties, a valuable life was lost. Keeping in view the age and avocation of the deceased, learned single Judge directed the appellants (opposite parties in the writ petition) to pay interim compensation of Rs. 1,00,000/- within two months, and further permitted the petitioner to work out her remedies in the common law forum for higher compensation.