JYOTI SARMA Vs. THE STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petitioner who is an employee of M/s. Bhuwalka Trading and Tea Company (P) Ltd. is an accused under section 304-A, I.P.C. The allegation inter alia against him is that he was engaged as a care-taker of Premises No. 14/1, Ariff Road, Calcutta within Ultadanga Police Station which is owned by the said Company.

(2.) On 28th April, 1985 in the evening a thunder squall accompanied by heavy rain lashed Calcutta and its suburbs which paralysed the normal life and business of the city. Several light posts maintained by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and other authorities and several trees were uprooted and electric wires were snapped at many places. As a result of the heavy shower and the strong wind, portion of the boundary wall collapsed injuring one Profulla Kr. Santra who was removed to R. G. Kar Hospital by local men. The debris were removed by the local men and Fire Brigade also came to the spot. The victim Profulla Kr. Santra who was admitted in the Emergency O. T. Department of R. G. Kar Hospital at 18.40 hrs. on 28.4.85 with multiple injuries on his person succumbed to his injuries that very day at 21.30 hrs. The cause of death was ascertainable as cardio-respiratory failure on account of multiple injuries sustained by him. It was revealed from police investigation that because of the heavy storm the wall at 14/1, Ariff Road collapsed to the extent of about 10 yards towards Ujir Chowdhury Road and Ariff Road and the said Profulla Kr. Santra became the victim as he fell under the debris of the pucca wall. It was later on found out by the police in course of investigation that the pucca wall collapsed due to negligence on the part of the owner of the building viz. Bhuwalka Trading & Tea Company (P) Ltd. Later on, instead of going for the actual owner of the premises, negligence was attributed to the present petitioner since he was engaged as an employee of M/s. Bhuwalka Trading & Tea Company (P) Ltd. and the designation under which he worked with his employers was as "the caretaker" of the building though according to him he was nothing more than a Darwan. One Jharna Rani Santra the widow of the victim Profulla Kr. Santra wrote a letter on or about 1.5.85 to the Officer-in-charge, Ultadanga Police Station narrating her predicament. The Officer-in-charge, Ultadanga Police Station wrote a letter dated 20.5.85 addressed to the City Architect, Calcutta Municipal Corporation, who by his letter dated 30.10.85 informed the Officer-in-charge, Ultadanga Police Station that the officers of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation had already inspected the premises No. 14/1, Ariff Road and had reported that the boundary wall standing at the site was not structurally sound for which action had already been taken by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation. By letters dated 30.9.85 and 3.12.85 the officers of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation directed demolition of the boundary wall. Letters were replied to by Bhuwalka Trading and Tea Company (P) Ltd. denying Company's liability and giving out further that the said company is merely the owner of the property and by two separate deeds of lease executed on 22.7.74 had leased out the premises to respondents No. 3 and 4, two ladies of Bhuwalka family. It is the stand taken by the company, though not figuring as an accused, that due to forcible obstruction and trespass caused by the anti-social elements in the neighbourhood the company could not execute necessary repair works of the boundary wall. It is immaterial at the present time as what happened after the incident of 28th April 1985. As the matter stands now, we are primarily concerned with the question of culpable negligence, if any on the part of the present petitioner who is figuring as an accused on the charge under section 304-A, I.P.C.

(3.) The petitioner draws the attention of the court to the news item appearing in the Statesman dated 29.4.85. The said news item gives out that the squall hit the city with a wind speed of 75 k.m. per hour and Alipur Metereological Office recorded a rain fall of 32.2 mm. Light posts were uprooted on various parts of East Calcutta during the squall and a pedestrian came in contact with the live wire and was electrocute. As regards the incident of collapse of boundary wall.of a building at Ultadanga, injury was sustained by a pedestrian who was removed to R. G. Kar Hospital. Train services as well as flights of the Indian Air Lines were disputed and delayed.