The Court directed the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to pay Rs. 17,74,700 as compensation to the widow of a deceased employee who died due to electrocution caused by damaged wires which had fallen and lay on the ground for three days despite prior notice.
Directed respondents to pay Rs. 17,74,700 as compensation plus interest at 8% per annum within six weeks.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 19.03.2019
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE T.RAJA
W.P.NO.20632 of 2008 and M.P.No.1 of 2008
I. Muniapushpam ...Petitioner
Vs
1.The Chairman
Tamil Nadu Electricity Board
No.144, Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002.
2.The Superintending Engineer
Chennai Electricity Distribution Circle
South, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board
Chennai.
3.The Assistant Engineer, O&M
Tamil Nadu Electricity Board
Medavakkam, Chennai. ...Respondents
Prayer : Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to pay the petitioner a sum of Rs.10,00,000/- towards the compensation with 18% interest from the date of the incident till the date of realization for the death of her husband P.Ayyarappan having died on 16.11.2007 on account of electrocution, by considering the petitioner's representation dated 05.05.2008 made by her to the first respondent within a time frame as fixed by this Court.
For Petitioner : Mr.G.Ananda Kumar
For Respondents: Mr. S.K.Raameshuwar, Standing Counsel for TNEB
O R D E R
The petitioner, whose husband died on 16.11.2007 due to electrocution, has filed this writ petition seeking for issuance of a writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to pay her a
sum of Rs.10,00,000/- towards compensation with 18% interest from the date of the incident till the date of realization, by considering her representation dated 05.05.2008.
the deceased was only aged about 40 years. However, the pass book issued by the Tamilnadu Manual Workers Social Security and Welfare Board shows the date of birth of the deceased Ayyarappan was 01.07.1967. Therefore, on the basis of the said pass book, the age of the deceased is taken as 40 years. In the recent judgment of the Honourable Division Bench of this Court in Andal and Others Vs. Abhinav Kannan and others (2019) (1) TN MAC 54 (DB), this Court was inclined to fix a sum of Rs.11,000/per month towards notional income. For better appreciation, it is relevant to extract paragraph No.14 of the said judgment, which is quoted below.
“14. As per the above said index, the cost of Inflation Index for the year 2007-08 is 129 and for the year 2013-14 will be 220. Now, we determine the Notional Income of the deceased in the manner stated below.
The Notional income fixed by X Cost of Inflation the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Index for the year India for the Vegetable Vendor 2013-14 Rs.6500/- during the year 2007-08
Cost of Inflation Index for the year 2007-08 Therefore, the Income of the deceased is 6500 X 220
----------- = Rs.11,085/129
The Notional Income of the deceased after applying the Inflation Index, will be a sum of Rs.11,085/-. Hence, we re-fix the Notional Income of the deceased as Rs.11,000/- from Rs.6,500/-. Therefore, we hold that the Tribunal committed error in fixing the Notional Income of the deceased as stated above.”
awards a sum of Rs.16,49,700/-(9165x15x12) towards loss of dependency. Further, this Court also hereby awards various compensation under the following heads.
Loss of love and affection -- Rs.50,000/Pain and sufferings -- Rs.50,000/Funeral expenses -- Rs.25,000/8. In total, this Court hereby awards a sum of Rs.17,74,700/as total compensation. The respondents/Electricity Board are hereby directed to pay the said amount as compensation to the petitioner, with interest at 8% per annum from the date of accident till the date of payment, within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
W.P.No.20632 of 2008
Kak(07/05/2019)
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board is liable for compensation due to negligent maintenance of electric wires causing electrocution.
What is the appropriate quantum of compensation, including notional income, future prospects, and dependency loss.
Whether interest should be awarded on the compensation amount.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Andal and Others Vs. Abhinav Kannan and othersFollowed¶19
Andal and Others Vs. Abhinav Kannan and others (2019) (1) TN MAC 54 (DB)
Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and anotherFollowed¶26
Sarla Verma and others vs. Delhi Transport Corporation and another, reported in 2009 (6) SCC 121 · Who else cites this
I. Muniapushpam
The Chairman, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board
The Superintending Engineer, Chennai Electricity Distribution Circle
The Assistant Engineer, O&M, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board
T. Raja
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
T. Raja
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