NEW DELHI: The Delhi
high court on Friday awarded a
compensation of
Rs 10 lakh with interest of
Rs 2 lakh as
additional sum to the family of an
11-year-old boy who
died during a
school picnic at
Millennium Park after falling into a pit in 2015.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar held the Public Works Department liable for the boy’s death.
“Due to failure of public authorities to carry out their duties and negligence, young Lavansh lost his life,” the bench noted. It also directed all civic agencies to ensure that all manholes, pits, holes, tanks or any other opening in the ground shall be regularly inspected and maintained.
The court noted that having installed a rainwater storage tank, it was PWD’s “bounden duty to ensure that the water was used for the purpose for which the tank was installed.” PWD should have also ensured that there was regular maintenance of the tank and that any breakage in the manhole cover was immediately attended to so that human life was not endangered.
HC was clear that the fault has to be attributed to PWD for failing to notice the uncovered manhole and also gave a clean chit to the teacher of Lavansh’s school who is being prosecuted by police. “The blame for the ill-fated incident, in which a young 11-year-old boy who had gone for a happy outing as a school picnic lost his life, clearly lies with PWD which failed to exercise due care. The prosecution of Devender Kumar, the school teacher is unwarranted and unfair,” HC observed.
Dismissing the claim of PWD, HC said the area in question and specifically the manhole “was under the maintenance and responsibility of PWD”.
“The only possible conclusion from the admitted factual position is that PWD failed in its duty of exercising even ordinary care and diligence in maintaining a scrutiny over the manholes and keeping the surrounding area in a reasonably safe condition,” the court added.
Delhi HC
