Madras High Court
The District Collector vs William David on 23 June, 2017
Bench: Indira Banerjee, T.S.Sivagnanam
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 23.06.2017
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MS.INDIRA BANERJEE, CHIEF JUSTICE
and
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE T.S.SIVAGNANAM
W.A.(MD) No.619 of 2017
and
C.M.P.(MD) No.5133 of 2017
1.The District Collector,
Thanjavur District,
Thanjavur.
2.The Executive Engineer,
Public Works Department,
W.R.D.,
Thanjavur. ... Appellants
-vs-
William David ... Respondent
Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent, to set aside the order
dated 03.03.2017 in W.P.(MD) No.13651 of 2013, on the file of this Court.
!For Appellants : Mr.V.R.Shanmuganathan
Spl. Govt. Pleader
^For Respondent : No appearance
:JUDGMENT
(Judgment of the Court by The Hon'ble The Chief Justice) This writ appeal is directed against an order, dated 03.03.2017, passed by the Single Bench in W.P.(MD) No.13651 of 2013, directing the appellant to pay compensation of Rs.5,00,000/- to the writ petitioner for the death of his son, who admittedly fell into the pit dug by a contractor engaged by the appellants.
2. We would have expected the State to have gractiously accepted the responsibility and pay compensation of Rs.5,00,000/-, which is a small amount for the life of a 11 year old child.
3. The learned Special Government Pleader argued that the pit had only one feet of water and the child might have died due to heart disease. The learned Single Judge did not accept the aforesaid submission and in our view, rightly, the postmortem report opines that the child died due to drowning, which was associated with congenital heart disease. Even assuming that the child did suffer from a congenital heart disease, the ultimate reason for the death was drowning.
5. The fact remains that the drowning did take place. The pit was dug up by the appellants and the child fell into the pit and died. The learned Single Judge rightly awarded the compensation.
6. Hence, the writ appeal is dismissed. The State Government, within 30 days from date of receipt of a copy of this order, shall pay the compensation to the respondent. The appellants may, if so advised, recover the compensation from the contractor. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
To
1.The Secretary to Government, Public Works Department, Chennai.
2.The District Collector, Thanjavur District, Thanjavur.
3.The Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, W.R.D., Thanjavur..