AMANULLAH KHAN Vs. STATE OF DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision petition is directed against the order on charge dated 5.6.2004 and the charge itself framed on 5.6.2004. The charge that is being made out against the petitioner is as under:-

(2.) As per the charge sheet, the case for the prosecution is that on 19.9.1998 ASI O.K. Singh of Police Station Seema Puri received DD No.65-B dated 19.9.1998 and thereupon he reached the spot and found two MTNL workers / labourers had fallen into the manhole / sewer. The fire brigade was called at the spot and both the persons were taken out and sent to hospital where the doctors declared them as having been brought dead. As per the charge sheet, on an enquiry, it was revealed that both the persons who had lost their lives were working for an MTNL contractor Ammanulla Khan (the present petitioner). It further indicated that the deceased persons (Vijay and Lalan), before they died, entered the said manhole at about 2.30 P.M to lay telephone cables but could not come out. According to the charge sheet, they received electric shocks and because of poisonous gas present in the manhole / sewer, they could not get out and died. Thereafter, statements were recorded under Section 161 Cr.Pc and the postmortem was also conducted at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Dilshad Garden, Delhi. The doctor who conducted the postmortem reserved his opinion regarding the cause of death awaiting the report as regards the viscera which had been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (hereinafter referred to as "the FSL"), Govt. of NCT of Delhi Malviya Nagar, New Delhi. In the charge sheet, it was clearly noted that although the viscera report was awaited the only option left for determining the cause of death was that it was due to poisonous gas which is generally present in sewer lines. Accordingly, it was noted in the charge sheet that if the viscera establishes that the death had taken place due to poisonous gas then the culpability of the present petitioner (the contractor) would be made out. According to the charge sheet, he was required to check whether there was poisonous gas in the sewer and he should have taken precautionary measures to save their lives. The death of the two persons, according to the charge-sheet, clearly indicated that the present petitioner was guilty of an offence punishable under Section 304 - AIPC.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner pointed out that the viscera report has since been obtained and, as per the report given by the FSL, the result of the examination reveals the following: