Govt told to pay Rs 6 lakh to mother who lost son to pothole

Holding that the government is responsible for bad condition of city roads, Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Delhi government to pay a compensation of Rs 6 lakh to a woman.

Holding that the government is responsible for bad condition of city roads, Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Delhi government to pay a compensation of Rs 6 lakh to a woman.

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Her 24-year-old business executive son died last year after his scooter met with an accident on a potholed road.

“Loss of life because of negligence of state instrumentalities results in violation of right to life and liberty under Section 21 of the Constitution,” said Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

“The authorities should be conscious and aware of their duty to maintain roads and ensure that the road surface does not have any pit so as to cause accidents, thus resulting in injuries and even loss of life,” the judge said.

Justice Khanna directed the government to pay Rs 6,28,000 within eight weeks to Madhu Kaur, who had filed a petition seeking compensation after her 24 year-old-son Harpreet, a sales executive with a private company, died in a road accident on May 4, 2006.

“It is the responsibility of road-owning agencies to ensure that the roads are maintained properly and repairs undertaken on time,” the court said and directed the government to pay the compensation amount with 10 per cent rate of interest if it failed to pay the compensation within the stipulated time of two months.

The court order followed a petition filed by Kaur who claimed Rs 50 lakh as compensation for her son’s death.

In the petition, she said on the night of May 4, 2006, her son was riding a scooter with his brother as pillion rider.

Around 9.30 pm it began to rain when it ran into a pit on the road near Base Hospital at Narayana, resulting in fatal injuries.

She blamed the government and the MCD for the death.