Andhra Pradesh

Rs. 5-lakh compensation for electrocution

VISAKHAPATNAM: High tension wires lay close to the house and accidentally, a person on the terrace who came into contact with them, is electrocuted. The electricity supply authority argues that the wires lay much before the house was built and therefore it was not liable to pay any damages. But still it remains a case of deficiency in service on the part of the electricity authority, the Visakhapatnam District Consumer Forum-I ruled and awarded compensation of Rs.5 lakhs for loss of life and another Rs.25,000 for mental agony to a consumer.

A 15-year-old boy, Vinod Kumar, who passed the class X examination in the first class, went to his aunt’s house in R.R. Venkatapuram of Vepagunta panchayat to spend the 2002 summer vacation. In the night, he went to the open terrace to relax. He leaned on the parapet wall and came into contact with a high tension wire running close to the building. He suffered serious burns and succumbed to the injuries in King George Hospital. The boy’s mother, Nagam Jagadamba, residing in Prahladapuram on the outskirts lodged a complaint (389/2006) with the forum against the EPDCL represented by its Chairman and Managing Director (OP1) near Saraswathi Park in Visakhapatnam city, and also against the owner of the house (OP2), seeking compensation for loss of life, mental agony and costs.

The OP1 filed a counter specifically denying all allegations. The electrical lines were laid several decades ago in the area and people constructed houses in violation of building rules and failed to leave vacant space, mostly encroached the road margins and projected balconies and terrace. It had no control over these unruly activities and the house owners were responsible for such untoward incidents for constructing the house without maintaining sufficient distance from the electrical lines, the OP1 said while seeking dismissal of the case.

President of the Forum-I Y. Dhilleswara Rao and members -- G. Viswanatha Reddy and D. Suseela -- who examined evidence and gave the judgment, said that though they could not disagree with OP1’s contention, wondered what the role of OP1 was. “The bill collectors and officials for checking meters generally visit now and then all the houses having service connection. Even otherwise, while passing through streets, one can see connections going from poles resembling spider’s web and high tension wires without any shell hanging over. The OP1 cannot disown responsibility in case of negligence in the process of supply. When there is danger to life and property of people, OP1 cannot venture to delay measures that prevent the risk. High tension wires running overhead in close proximity without shell is an imminent danger which one cannot gauge,” they observed, while holding it as a case of deficiency in service.

On the argument of OP1 that there was no basis for compensation as the minor boy was not an earning member, the forum observed the child would have become a pride of the country tomorrow or at least a mere breadwinner of the parents. The loss could not be estimated in exact terms of money. “The laws of economies can be compared with the laws of tides rather than with the simple and exact laws of gravitation,” it remarked. Besides compensation for deficiency in service and mental agony, the forum also awarded Rs.2,000 as cost of litigation.

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