Madurai:
Holding Tamil Nadu Government and the Tiruchirappalli district administration liable for negligence by a panchayat which resulted in the death of a 12-year old boy in an arch collapse in 2004, Madras High Court bench in Madurai awarded a compensation of Rs 3.15 lakh to the victim's family.
The court criticised Valadi Panchayat President for taking advantage of the ignorance of a widow and trying to bargain with her for a paltry compensation.
Holding the State and the district administration liable for the panchayat's negligence, Justice S Manikumar ordered a compensation of Rs 3,15,000 to the boy's mother M.Saraswathi, to be paid within two months.
Prasanth died on August 14,2004 when the arch of the panchayat office collapsed and fell on him.
Seeking adequate compensation for the premature death of her only son, Saraswathi, a widow, made representations to the panchayat and the district administration, but in vain.
She moved the court in 2006 for which no counter was filed by the panchayat till the time of judgment.
In August last, when the case came up before Justice Manikumar, petitioner's counsel S Vijayashanti informed that the Panchayat President offered to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation. The government advocate also acknowledged that there was a negotiation for settlement of compensation.
"Poverty and illiteracy ought not to have been taken advantage by the President to be the bargaining factors for estimating the loss of life. It is unfortunate that he has quoted a compensation of Rs 50,000. The reparation should be just and reasonable", the judge held.
"The accident has occurred purely due to the negligence of the panchayat officials in not maintaining the entrance properly. For the negligence of the panchayat, the district administration and the State are vicariously liable to pay compensation", the judge said.
He directed the panchayt president to pay Rs 25,000 immediately from the panchayat funds with interest. The panchayat had already given the aggrieved woman Rs 25,000.
The Judge further directed the district administration and the State to deposit the balance of Rs 2,65,000 with interest within two months in any nationalised bank. The periodical interest of the amount deposited shall be used by Saraswathi.
She could draw from the corpus for livelihood, the judge said.
The court criticised Valadi Panchayat President for taking advantage of the ignorance of a widow and trying to bargain with her for a paltry compensation.
Holding the State and the district administration liable for the panchayat's negligence, Justice S Manikumar ordered a compensation of Rs 3,15,000 to the boy's mother M.Saraswathi, to be paid within two months.
Prasanth died on August 14,2004 when the arch of the panchayat office collapsed and fell on him.
Seeking adequate compensation for the premature death of her only son, Saraswathi, a widow, made representations to the panchayat and the district administration, but in vain.
She moved the court in 2006 for which no counter was filed by the panchayat till the time of judgment.
In August last, when the case came up before Justice Manikumar, petitioner's counsel S Vijayashanti informed that the Panchayat President offered to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation. The government advocate also acknowledged that there was a negotiation for settlement of compensation.
"Poverty and illiteracy ought not to have been taken advantage by the President to be the bargaining factors for estimating the loss of life. It is unfortunate that he has quoted a compensation of Rs 50,000. The reparation should be just and reasonable", the judge held.
"The accident has occurred purely due to the negligence of the panchayat officials in not maintaining the entrance properly. For the negligence of the panchayat, the district administration and the State are vicariously liable to pay compensation", the judge said.
He directed the panchayt president to pay Rs 25,000 immediately from the panchayat funds with interest. The panchayat had already given the aggrieved woman Rs 25,000.
The Judge further directed the district administration and the State to deposit the balance of Rs 2,65,000 with interest within two months in any nationalised bank. The periodical interest of the amount deposited shall be used by Saraswathi.
She could draw from the corpus for livelihood, the judge said.
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