P SAROJINI NAIDU Vs. AMERICAN REFRIGERATION CO LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiffs in O.S.No. 21/73 on the file of the Additional Chief Judge, city Civil Court, Hyderabad have preferred this appeal against the Judgment and decree of that Court dismissing their suit. The first plaintiff is the widow of Sri P.S. Naidu, plaintiffs 2 to 4 are his children and plaintiff 5 is his mother.

(2.) Sri P.S. Naidu was the Superintending Engineer in the Atomic Energy Department of the Central Government. He was working in the Nuclear Fuel Complex at Moula Ali, Hyderabad in 1971. The work of Air-conditioning, ventilation and fumehood exhaust for the Buildings of the NuclearFue! Complex was entrusted to the defendant M/s. American Refrigeration Co, Ltd., The work of constructing the building had been entrusted earlier to another contractor and had been completed by him. The defendant had to instal a roof extractor in the pellestising bay of the Ceremicfuel fabrication plant building. For erecting the roof extractor, a portion of the roof which was of asbestos sheets had to be dismantled and the roof extractor placed in position. After it was installed, Mr. Naidu who was the Superinten. ding Engineer had to satisfy himself about the safety of the structure and see that the roof extractor did not damage the roof by its vibrations. On the 31st August, 1971, he was asked by the defendant to inspect the work. It is the plaintiff's case that as the defendant had unbolted the asbestos sheets and failed to reflx the same with J bolts they were not firmly fixed, with the result Sri P.S. Naidu who stepped on one of the sheets fell down along with the sheet which has been unbolted by the staff, and received serious injuries. He was taken to the hospital, but he died on the way.

(3.) A committee consisting of three members with Sri C.M. Goveas as Chairman was constituted by the Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to find out the cause of the accident and to indicate safety measures to be taken in future to prevent recurrence of the accident, The committee took statements from persons who were on the spot at the time of the accident and others and investigated into the matter. They ultimately submitted a report on 13-7-1972 in which they stated that the responsibility for the accident lay entirely with the defendant-Company who were assigned the task of installing the roof extractor. They stated that one of the asbestos sheets on which Sri Naidu stepped was not bolted. Sri Naidu was not warned of the fact when he went up on thereof. The most important con tributary cause of the accident was the insecure way in which the sheet was placed as it was fixed either with little or no bearing on purlin No. 6. It must have moved downward little by tittle during the erection operation with the result that with the stepping of Sri Naidu on the sheet, it had reached a critical stage end gave way. They therefore stated that the responsibility lay with the defendant.