Anita and another vs State of Haryana and others

This order shall dispose of two petitions bearing CWP No.21642 of 2014 titled as ""Anita and another Vs. State of Haryana and others

[hereinafter referred to as ''the 1st petition''] and CWP No.21224 of 2014 titled as ""Kapoor Chand and another Vs. State of Haryana and others

[hereinafter referred to as ''the 2nd petition''] as the issue involved therein is identical i.e. regarding the award of compensation in case of death of

Arushi daughter of Anita and Vikas Kumar son of Kapoor Chand. However, for the sake of convenience, the facts are being extracted from the

1st petition.

In brief, on 9.10.2011, at Shri Ram Colony, explosion in crackers, stored in the property of Vakil Ahmed, took place in which Arushi daughter

of Anita, Naresh husband of Anita and Vikas son of Kapoor Chand lost their lives. Anita had preferred CWP No.15283 of 2012 for seeking

compensation on account of the death of her husband Naresh Kumar. The said petition has already been decided by this Court on 1.12.2014 by

awarding compensation of Rs.7.5 lac with interest to be paid @ 7.5% from the date of accident. The liability has been fastened upon the State to

make the payment with the right to recover the money paid to the claimants from Vakil Ahmed, who was the owner of the property in question in

which the explosive material was stored. It was ordered that the State would be at liberty to take independent action against Vakil Ahmed or any

other person associated with him, if there had been any, the same shall not be deferred for any reason to await the outcome of any independent

proceedings that the State could take against Valik Ahmed and the persons associated with him.

Learned counsel for the petitioners has relied upon two decisions for the purpose of awarding compensation. One by the Supreme Court in the

case of ""Kishan Gopal and another Vs. Lala and others"" 2013 (4) RCR (Civil) 276 and another by the Delhi High Court in the case of ""Delhi

Development Authority Vs. Bhagwan and others"" 213 (56) RCR (Civil) 173.

It is submitted that in the case of Bhagwan and others (Supra), the Delhi High Court has awarded Rs.11,25,000/- as pecuniary compensation

and Rs.1,53,509- towards non-pecuniary damages, in total an amount of Rs.12,78,509/- was awarded in case of the death of 7 years old child.

However, in the case of Lala and others (Supra), the Supreme Court has awarded compensation to the tune of Rs.5 lacs in the case of death of 10

year old child.

Learned counsel for the respondents has submitted that in the case of Vikas, compensation to the tune of Rs.4 lac has already been paid which

is not denied by the counsel for the petitioners. However, in the case of Arushi, compensation of Rs.2 lac is stated to have been paid to the

petitioner.

There is no dispute that Arushi is the daughter of Naresh Kumar, who also died in the same accident and has been awarded compensation to

the tune of Rs.7.5 lacs being an adult and earning member. Therefore, I would rely upon the decision in the case of Lala and others (Supra) in

which the Supreme Court has held that the notional income of the child should be taken as Rs.30,000/- and since his parents were 36 years of age,

therefore, multiplier of 15 was applied to Rs.30,000/- which came to Rs.4,50,000/- and Rs.50,000/- awarded under conventional heads (i.e. loss

of love and affection, funeral expenses, last rites etc.), Rs.30000 was assessed by the Supreme court in the order dated 2013 but the case is being

decided in the year 2018, therefore, I would add Rs.1 lac more to the amount to be paid in the case of death of Arushi, therefore, it is held that the

mother of Arushi is entitled to Rs.6 lacs minus 2 lacs already received by her from the State. The amount of Rs.4 lac shall be paid to her with 7.5%

interest from the date of accident till its realization.

Similar principal is applied to the case of Vikas as well in whose case an amount of Rs.4 lac has been awarded and the amount of Rs.2 lac more

is liable to be awarded by the respondents-State to the petitioners which shall be paid to them along with 7.5 % interest from the date of accident.

With these observations, both the petitions are hereby disposed of.

It is needless to mention that the liability of Vakil Ahmed, owner of the property in question in which explosive material was stored, shall be the

same as has been held by the Coordinate Bench of this Court in CWP No.15283 of 2012 A photocopy of this order be placed on the file of

another connected case.