The Pioneer 03.08.2010
HC asks MCD to pay victim’s widow `5 lakh
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to pay `5 lakh in damages to the wife of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s former aide who lost his life after falling into an uncovered pit last year.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the MCD cannot shy away from taking responsibility for such an accident on the ground that the construction work was contracted out to a private company. The court also asked the MCD to constitute a task force which will ensure that the safety norms are followed during construction activities in the Capital.
78-year-old Trilok Nath Makan, who retired as Additional Private Secretary of former Prime Minister Vajpayee, went for an evening walk on August 28, 2009 in Shivalik near Malviya Nagar in South Delhi, where he had been living along with his wife Jai Rani, but did not return. Next morning, Makan’s body was found in a ditch by a grocer.
“The MCD cannot afford to enter into contract of this nature and leave the citizens to their fate. It has the statutory obligation and therefore a sacred duty to see that such kinds of accidents are not caused due to negligence of a contractor,” the court said while dismissing civic body’s plea that it should not be asked to pay compensation.
An NGO, Criminal Justice Society, had filed the PIL seeking `1 crore as damages for Jai Rani and `10 crore as punitive damages. The court directed the MCD to pay `5 lakh to Jai Rani.
“We direct the MCD Commissioner to form a task force, which would see that the contractors carry out the safety measures to the optimum level, so that no hazard is caused to any person and it would be easy on the part of the MCD to fix the responsibility on its task force rather than entering into an unnecessary labyrinth,” the court said.
