NHRC notice to UP in electrocution case, asks why Rs 9 lakh be not paid to family

The NHRC has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government asking why Rs 9 lakh be not paid as compensation to the kin of three members of a family who were "electrocuted" in Aligarh last year allegedly due to negligence of the electricity department and municipal officials.

The National Human Rights Commission today said it has sent the notice to the chief secretary and sought a response in four weeks.

The commission in the case has "held responsible the officials of the electricity department and city's municipal corporation for their negligence".

The show cause notice asked why Rs 3 lakh each should not be recommended to be paid to the next of kin of the three deceased -- a woman, her son and daughter.

The NHRC had registered a case on the basis of a complaint that on July 17 last year in Aligarh, a street was flooded after rain and water was entering the houses in a locality, it said in a statement.

"The municipal officials were requested to pump out the water but they did not do so. Meanwhile, the wife of the man (complainant) tried to manually flush out water but she was electrocuted due to current from the nearby electric pole. On hearing her screams, her son rushed to save her but he too was electrocuted," it said.

"The daughter of the complainant also met with the same fate. Noticing this from the roof of his house, the man alerted his neighbours and requested them to inform the power house to shut down power supply of the area but no one attended the phone there," the NHRC said.

Allegedly, after about an hour, many people reached the power house and raised a hue and cry, only then the power supply was shut down, it said.

"The complainant had alleged that due to the negligence of the electrical department and Aligarh Municipal Corporation, three members of his family lost their lives," the rights panel said in the statement.

He also said that on the basis of his complaint, the police had registered an FIR against the electrical department and the corporation, but the officials of both the departments were "mounting pressure on him to withdraw the case," the NHRC said.

During the course of the inquiry, the commission said it found the allegations against the electricity department as well as the municipal corporation were "true".

The commission's stand holding the negligence of the officials of the two agencies responsible for the incident, also got strength from the fact that after the completion of investigation, the police had filed a chargesheet in court against two employees of the corporation, the statement said.

It was also confirmed that despite requests, neither the officials of the municipal corporation pumped out the water logged in the street nor the officials of the electricity department shut down the power supply timely, the NHRC said.

"Therefore, it concluded that the state is vicariously liable for the dereliction of the duty on part of its officials for which it needed to pay relief to the next of kin of the three deceased," it said.