Coming to the relief of a bereaved man, Justice G.R. Swaminathan of the Madras High Court not only treated the mail sent by him to the Registrar (Judicial) seeking compensation for the death of his son as a writ petition, but also made a spot inspection to the site of occurrence to ascertain facts and ensure speedy justice to the family.
G. Sendhattikalaipandian of Alangulam in Virudhunagar district wrote the letter to the Registrar (Judicial) seeking compensation from the State for the death of his son who came in contact with a live wire. The youth, Saravanan was pursuing Postgraduation in Journalism.
“Did not Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer treat letters as writ petitions?”, Justice Swaminathan asked, adding he did not have the heart to tell the father to consult a lawyer and file a writ petition before the HC or file a suit for compensation before a civil court.
In order to satisfy his conscience, the judge had made a spot inspection. After ascertaining the facts, the judge said on an overall consideration of the circumstances, the tragedy was purely an Act of God and Tangedco could not be fastened with any negligence as such. However, applying the principle of ‘Strict Liability’, the judge ordered a compensation of ₹8.86 lakh to be paid in addition to ₹5 lakh already paid to the family.
The judge said he was of the view that Tangedco should offer the job of Junior Assistant to the second son of the petitioner, S. Bharathi, who had necessary qualification.
Tangedco must ensure that such accidents did not occur in future and undertake a comprehensive safety audit. Bushes underneath electric poles and transmission lines could be cleared. They could announce cash prizes for young scientists to come out with ideas on how to make the feeder trip automatically, once the line was snapped, he said.
The judge pointed out what was originally a government department became a statutory board and now metamorphosed into a corporation. While the form had changed, the situation on ground remained the same. The time had come to administer shock to the system. One looked forward to the day when Tangedco would be a profitable enterprise maintaining the highest safety standards, he said.
