R S E B Vs. JAI SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Briefly stated the facts giving rise to the present petition are as follows: Non-petitioner-plaintiffs are sons and daughters of late Keshar Singh, who brought a suit claiming damages amounting to Rs.1060,000/- against the petitioner-defendants in the Court of District Judge, Rajsamand alleging that live electric wires of 11 K.V. were passing over their field. On the fateful night of 15-2-1992 at about 9 p.m. Keshar Singh, his wife Smt. Mohani and his son Kishan Singh, present in their house situated in their agricultural field, saw that stack of grass lying in the field of wheat had caught fire from the the snapped (broken) live electric wires whose broken ends were lying on the field. They immediately rushed to the spot with a view to extinguish fire. Since the snapped and broken ends of the live electri wires were lying on the ground and there was electric current passing into the land, they got struck by the electric current, as a result of which they were burnt to death on the spot. As a result, non-petitioner-plaintiffs brought action for damages purporting to be under the provisions of Section 1-A of the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 on account of death of their father and mother. It was claimed that the petitioner-defendants who were licensees and owners of the over-head electric wires, who were passing electricity by way of operating over-head electric wires were grossly negligent in maintaining the same in order. It was also pleaded that such wires passing above their field had snapped (broken) three or four times earlier and a complaint was lodged by the villagers before the local authorities of the respondent- R.S.E.B. but the officers of the Board neglected to take appropriate remedial action. This resulted in the unfortunate tragedy which had engulfed three valuable human lives.

(2.) This claim of the non-petitioner-plaintiffs was mainly defended by the petitioner-defendants on the ground that there was no negligence, omission or default on the part of the R.S.E.B. authorities and that electric wires were passing above the field of the claimants since 1976 and that Shri Refique Mohd. resident of village Sathiya constructed his house thereafter who had stacked grass and fodder on the terrace of his house and nearer to the over-head electric wires passing from there and so sparkings resulting from the live electric wires suddenly got fire, as a result of which electric wires became quite hot and on its getting melted the same got snapped and broken and its ends fell on the ground since the standing crop of wheat was irrigated just before the occurrence so the ground was wet and hence no sooner the deceased persons went there in an attempt to extinguish fire, they got electrocuted resulting in their deaths. Thus the defendant have throughout maintained that the unfortunate occurrence did not take place due to their negligence, omission or fault but the deceased themselves were negligent and at fault as a result of which they had died.

(3.) During the pendency of the suit, the plaintiffs moved an application dated 30-11-1993 purporting to be under Section l51, C.P.C. praying that the plaintiff being sons and daughters of the deceased Keshar Singh and his wife Smt. Mohani so electrocuted along with their son Kishan Singh and the plaintiffs Nos. 2 to 4 were minors and they did not have any source of income to maintain themselves. Mangu Singh and Kumari Laxmi who were also students were not in a position to pursue their studies further because of the financial handicaps as a result, their guardian Jai Singh, who is their brother was working as a daily wage earner and he did not have enough source of income to maintain them. Therefore, it was requested that pending decision of the suit, an interim relief of Rs. 60,000/- be granted to them. This was resisted to by the defendants on the similar grounds as those are advanced in the written statement filed in the suit itself.