Saharab Ali @ Memera Ali v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

19.07.2023

Heard Mr. A. Mobaraque, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. A. Bhattacharya, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue & Disaster Management Department for the respondent no. 1; Mr. A. Chaliha, learned Standing Counsel, Finance Department for the respondent no. 2; and Ms. M. Barman, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 3 – 6.

¶2The petitioner has instituted this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking inter alia a direction to the State respondent authorities to disburse an amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- in terms of a Notification dated 15.11.2014 of the Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam claiming that he is one of the Next of Kins [NoKs] of a deceased person viz. Late Hamid Ali. It is claimed that Late Hamid Ali died in a road traffic accident occurred at a public place.

¶3The petitioner has claimed to be the father of the said deceased person, Late Hamid Ali.

¶4The case projected by the petitioner, in brief, is that at around 08-40 p.m. on Page No.# 3/6

26.05.2015, Hamid Ali was proceeding on foot from J.N. College, Boko side towards Boko Town side and at that time, he was knocked down by a motorcycle bearing registration no. AS-01/BN-9204, allegedly driven in a rash and negligent manner, from the backside at a place near the petrol pump at Jarapara. As a result of the accident, Hamid Ali sustained grievous injuries on his person and he was immediately admitted at the nearby health facility, Boko Community Health Center [CHC] for treatment. But the doctors at the Boko CHC declared him brought dead. After the death of Hamid Ali, the Post-Mortem Examination [PME] on his dead body was performed at the Gauhati Medical College & Hospital [GMCH], Guwahati on

27.05.2015. As per the PME Report, the death was due to comma as a result of injuries sustained over the head, as described in the PME Report. It was opined that the injuries were ante-mortem in nature and were caused by blunt force impact. In connection with the said accident, a General Diary Entry vide G.D. Entry no. 807 dated 26.05.2015 was registered at Boko Police Station. Later on, a crime case, Boko Police Station Case no. 397/2015 for offences under Sections 279/383/304A, IPC stood registered. During the course of investigation, the Officer In-Charge, Boko Police Station issued a Police Report dated

05.02.2020 [Annexure-4] mentioning that after completion of the investigation, Final Form had been submitted against the accused.

4.1. The petitioner has averred that seeking ex-gratia grant in terms of the Notification dated 15.11.2014, the petitioner had approached the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup, Amingaon repeatedly but no heed was paid for disbursal of the ex-gratia grant. When no response was received from the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup, Amingaon, the petitioner stated to have approached this Court by this writ petition. The petitioner has further mentioned that in some of the documents maintained by the State, his name is inadvertently mentioned as 'Memera Ali' instead of 'Saharab Ali'. He has asserted that 'Saharab Ali' and 'Memera Ali' is one and the same person having single identity.

¶5On perusal of the said Notification dated 15.11.2014, it is noticed that the same has, inter-alia, made a provision for ex-gratia grant to the Next of Kin [NoK] of person killed due to accident in public place or in public carrier [other than killed by extremist/terrorist, miscreants and due to firing of security forces] and such relief has been quantified at Rs. 2,00,000/- for Page No.# 4/6 the deceased person in respect of the accident which had occurred in the State on or after the date of the notification i.e. 15.11.2014. It has been brought to the notice of the Court by the learned counsel for the parties that due to certain ambiguity with regard to the term, 'public place', another Notification bearing no. R.R.94/2003/288 dated 15.10.2014 came to be issued by the Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam for removal of the ambiguity. As per the Notification dated 15.10.2014 [supra], the word 'public place' will mean any street, alley, park, public building, any place of business or assembly open to or frequented by the public or any other place, which is open to the public view or to which public has access.

¶6Ms. Barman, learned Junior Government Advocate has, on instruction, submitted that after completion of investigation, a charge sheet vide Charge Sheet no. 215 dated 30.07.2015 had been submitted against the accused.

¶7Mr. Bhattacharya and Ms. Barman are not in disagreement to the fact that in this writ petition, the petitioner has claimed that the alleged road traffic accident in question had occurred subsequent to 15.11.2014. It is submitted by Mr. Bhattacharya and Ms. Barman, in unison, that before placing the matter before the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner shall have to examine the matter in order to verify the veracity of the claim of the petitioner, with regard to, firstly, the alleged road traffic accident which stated to have occurred at a public place resulting in the death of the person, mentioned above; secondly, the claim of the petitioner as one of the Next of Kins [NoKs] of the person who stated to have died as a result of the said alleged road traffic accident; thirdly, the claim regarding occurrence of the accident at a public place; and fourthly, the verification of Saharab Ali and Memera Ali as one and the same person. They have further submitted that the petitioner has not submitted any Next of Kin [NoK] Certificate to process the claim in favour of the petitioner.

¶8This Court has already recognized the rationale behind the policy formulated by the State and notified vide the notification dated 15.11.2014, in its order dated 04.05.2019 Page No.# 5/6 passed in the writ petition, W.P.[C] no. 2100/2019 [Gunalata Das vs. the State of Assam] and similar other writ petitions, by observing that the dominant purpose of the policy is to provide some succour immediately to the Next of Kin [NoK] of the deceased to tide over the initial shock and hardship before lodging claim for just compensation under the law. Thus, a claim for the relief of ex-gratia grant under the policy calls for an expeditious consideration.

¶9The respondents were put to notice on 08.02.2021. Despite elapse of more than 2 [two] years, none of the respondents have filed any counter affidavit.

¶10Taking an overall view of the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the parties and the rationale behind the policy so formulated, this Court is of the considered view that instead of keeping the writ petition pending for any further period, waiting for further responses from the respondents, the same can be disposed of as the claim for relief in the form of ex-gratia to the petitioner in this writ petition as one of the Next of Kin [NoK] of a person killed in a road traffic accident, the facts of which are briefly narrated above, are to be verified and considered first at the end of the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner. Thus, after such verification and consideration of all relevant aspects including the four aspects, as highlighted by the learned counsel for the State respondents, by calling for reports from the other authorities, the proposal can thereafter, be forwarded by the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner along with his report, to the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Revenue & Disaster Management Department for release of ex-gratia amount in terms of the notification dated 15.11.2014, if the petitioner and/or any other Next of Kins [NoKs] is found entitled to receive the same. The Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Revenue & Disaster Management Department can thereafter, sanction the quantum of relief for disbursal to the petitioner and/or any other Next of Kins [NoKs] found entitled, in terms of the Notification dated 15.11.2014. It is accordingly ordered. The entire exercise in respect of the case involved in this writ petition should be completed by the above respondent authorities within a period of 3 [three] months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order by the office of Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup, Amingaon along with a copy of the writ petition with the annexures, from the petitioner. The petitioner is also directed to submit Next of Kin [NoK] Certificate to the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner in Page No.# 6/6 the course of such enquiry. The petitioner and/or the other Next of Kin [NoK] of the deceased person is/are directed to extend his/her assistance and cooperation during the process of such verification and shall furnish the relevant information/documents, available at his/her disposal, to facilitate the process of verification expeditiously, as and when asked for..

¶11With the observations made and directions given above, the writ petition stands disposed of. No cost.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010016362021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/654/2021o SAHARABoALIo@oMEMERAoALIo S/O-oLT.oTAJOoALI,oVILL-oBELPARAo(BAKARAPARA),oP.O.oANDoP.S.oBOKO,o DIST.-oKAMRUPo(R),oASSAM,oPIN-o781123 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oREVENUEo(Ro ANDoR)oANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGHY-06 2:THEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGHY-06 3:THEoDY.oCOMMISSIONER oKAMRUP oAMINGAON oASSAM oPIN-o781031 4:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICE oKAMRUP oAMINGAON oASSAM oPIN-o781031 5:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oBOKOoREVENUEoCIRCLE oP.O.oANDoP.S.oBOKO oDIST.-oKAMRUP oASSAM Page No.# 2/6 PIN- 781123 6:THE OFFICER-IN-CHARGE BOKO P.S. BOKO KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 78112 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A MOBARAQUE Advocate for the Respondent : SC, REVENUE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY