RAJASTHAN STATE ELECTRICTY BOARD Vs. MAHADEV MEENA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH the aforesaid appeals are being decided by this common judgment as in both of them, common questions of law and facts are involved and they have been preferred against the same order dated 16.7.1998 passed by the learned District Forum, Jaipur -II, Jaipur in Case No. 365/1996. Appeal No. 1496/1998 Chairman, Raj. State Electricity Board and Ors. v. Mahadev Meena

(2.) THIS appeal under Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act of 1986') has been filed by the appellants against the order dated 16.7.1998 passed by the learned District Forum, Jaipur -II, Jaipur by which the complaint filed by the complainant -respondent under Section 12 of the Act of 1986 was allowed in the manner that the appellants were directed to pay to the complainant -respondent a sum of Rs. 50,000 as compensation for death of his wife and Rs. 1,000 as cost of litigation.

(3.) IN this appeal, the main contention of the learned Counsel for the appellants is that the findings of the learned District Forum on point of jurisdiction of the learned District Forum are wholly erroneous one as since deceased had died from electrocution from live wire, which had snapped from pole, in the field, therefore, learned District Forum had no jurisdiction and matter should have been tried either by Civil Court or by other Forum under the provisions of the Fatal Accident Act. In this respect, the learned Counsel for the appellants has placed reliance on the decisions of National Commission in Shankar Sitaram Jadhav v. Maharashtra State Electricity Board, III (1994) CPJ 50 (NC) and Haryana State Electricity Board v. Smt. Ganga Devi, III (1996) CPJ 182 (NC).