NHRC asks Haryana to compensate families of dead students

The NHRC has directed the Haryana government to pay Rs.3 lakh as compensation to the families of two young men who died in a road accident in March, 2013.

The chief secretary of Haryana has been asked to submit a compliance report along with the proof of payment within six weeks by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The incident took place March 16 when two engineering students - Arvind, 21 and Gaurav, 20 - fell down from a flyover, while riding a motorcycle, into a drain due to a broken boundary wall.

"The Commission has observed that the accident occurred due to the negligence of the state authorities who did not repair the broken bridge," the NHRC said.

According to the commission, it had earlier issued a show cause notice asking the Haryana government why the families of the victims should not be compensated. However, the authorities did not bother to reply.

"We also observed that subsequent to the issuance of our notice, the police had taken action against the contractor who was arrested, but not the concerned engineer, and hence, the state had to bear the liability," the NHRC added.

The commission's decision to approach the state government was taken after the Haryana Police, the Public Works Department (PWD) and the irrigation department of the state expressed their inability to pay the compensation money and instead shifted the blame on each other.