HC awards Rs 5 lakhs to ex-babu’s widow
Almost a year after the death of former bureaucrat Trilok Nath Makan, who fell into a pit which was left uncovered by a negligent MCD contractor outside his South Delhi residence, the Delhi high court on Monday directed the civic agency to pay Rs 5 lakhs compensation to his wife Jai Rani for the callousness of the civic body and its contractor.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan 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 Municipal Corporation of Delhi to constitute a task force which will ensure that the safety norms are followed during construction activities in the city.
Seventy eight-year-old Makan, who retired as additional private secretary to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, went for an evening walk on August 28, 2009 in Shivalik area, near Malviya Nagar, in South Delhi, where he had been living along with his wife Rani, but did not return. Next morning Makan’s body was found in a ditch by a grocer.
Dismissing the civic body’s plea that it should not be asked to pay compensation, the court said, “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.”
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