Man told to pay cost imposed on his father to scavenger’s kin

As per the case, the petitioner A Ravichandran had received a communication dated August 21, 2017, from the Greater Chennai Corporation asking him to pay Rs 10 lakh as liability to one Adhilakshmi, wife of late Narasimhan, who died on August 26, 2001, while cleaning the septic tank in the house, where his father lived. 

He sought to quash the order on the basis that he was a small boy when Narasimhan died and that Adhilakshmi has not assigned any reason about her belated claim. He also noted that the Corporation was seeking the compensation amount on her behalf and it is only an afterthought. But the Corporation’s counsel submitted that the since the incident of two of the three scavengers dying while cleaning the septic tank had taken place inside Ravichandran’s premises, the entire compensation must be paid by him. Justice S Vaidyanathan, while partially allowing the plea, said, “The court is of the view that the impugned order asking the petitioner to pay the compensation to the dependent of the accused, cannot be said to be illegal.” 

However, the judge on noting that even though the delay is exorbitant, that cannot be a ground to reject the claim. He modified the compensation to Rs 7.5 lakh. He also held that out of this, Rs 5 lakh shall be paid by the petitioner and the remaining Rs 2.5 lakh by the Corporation. “But this will not preclude the victim’s family to claim the balance Rs 2.5 lakh, if they are able to establish that there is no delay on their part in claiming the amount,” the judge added.