Rights Body Notice To Delhi After Car Falls Off Under-Construction Flyover

The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Delhi government and the city police chief over a man dying after his car fell off an unattended under-construction stretch of the Barapullah elevated road in the national capital.

According to the police, the 42-year-old man died after his car fell off the under-construction flyover in east Delhi's Barapullah-Noida Link Road area on May 26. Jagandeep Singh, a resident of Krishna Nagar in Delhi, fell 30 feet to the ground leading to his death.

It is suspected that he got confused with the route and drove towards the under-construction flyover, police have said.

The National Human Rights Commission, in a statement on Wednesday, observed that it is immaterial whether there was any "contributory negligence" by the victim while driving.

What is more serious is that the "authorities recklessly left an under-construction portion of a busy Delhi road un-barricaded, which is unpardonable," it said.

The commission said it has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports of the incident. Reportedly, there was no signage regarding the ongoing work at the site and some of the barriers had been moved.

"It has been observed that the media reports, if true, amount to a serious issue of human rights violation as apparently there was no barricading to stop the movement of a vehicle on the under-construction stretch of the flyover.

"Accordingly, the NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretary, the secretary, the public works department, the Government of Delhi and the Delhi police commissioner, seeking a detailed report within four weeks," the statement said.

The reports are expected to include the status of the FIR registered by the police, action taken against the responsible officers or officials, and compensation if any, granted to the family of the victim.

The commission would also like to know about the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the authorities to ensure that such incidents do not recur anywhere, in the future, it added.

According to the media reports on May 30, it was only after the accident that barriers were put up on the stretch, the NHRC said.

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