Manamaya Devi v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 17-02-2023 Heard Mr. W. Rahman, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. A. Bhattacharyaa, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department for the respondent no. 1; Mr. B. Deuri, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 2, 3, 4 & 5.

¶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 she is one of the Next of Kins [NoKs] of the deceased person viz. Late Khem Bahadur Chetry @ Khem Chetry. It is claimed that Late Khem Bahadur Chetry @ Khem Chetry died in a road traffic accident occurred at a public place.

¶3The petitioner has claimed to be the mother of the said deceased person, Late Khem Bahadur Chetry @ Khem Chetry.

¶4The case projected by the petitioner, in brief, is that at around 04:45 p.m. on 18.12.2017, the son of the petitioner, Late Khem Bahadur Chetry @ Khem Page No.# 3/6 Chetry was waiting along with his companion, one Subelal Gowala at the road side near Kankata Dhaba on Mazbat Rupa Path. At that time, a vehicle bearing registration no. AS-09/AC-2992 [a truck] coming, in a rash and negligent manner, from Mazbat side towards Orang side knocked down the son of the petitioner['the victim'] from backside. As a result, the victim sustained grievous injuries on his person and he was immediately taken to the nearby health facility, Orang Primary Health Centre [PHC] by a 108 Ambulance. Finding the injuries serious, the doctors at the Orang PHC referred the victim to the Tezpur Medical College and Hospital [TMCH], Tezpur for better treatment but the victim died at the TMCH on 18.12.2017 itself. In connection with the accident, one First Information Report [FIR] was lodged by one Bhim Kr. Chetry, the elder brother of the victim. The said FIR was registered as Mazbat Police Station Case no. 68/2017 under Sections 279/304A, IPC and the case has been investigated into.

¶5The office of the Deputy Commissioner, District - Udalguri has issued a Next-of-Kin [NoK] certificate on 10.03.2022 enlisting 8 [eight] nos. of persons including the petitioner herein, as the Next-of-Kin [NoK] of the victim. The petitioner has asserted that she has submitted an application before the respondent no. 2 on 13.06.2022 seeking disbursal of an ex-gratia grant in terms of a notification dated 15.11.2014 of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam.

¶6It has, thus, been contended on behalf of the petitioner that she is one of the Next of Kins [NoKs] of the deceased person who died in a road traffic accident occurred on 18.12.2017 at a public place. It is further contended that as such Next of Kin [NoK] of the deceased person killed in such accident, she is entitled to receive the quantum of relief in terms of the policy formulated by the Page No.# 4/6 State Government, which has been notified by the notification dated

15.11.2014.

¶7On perusal of the said notification dated 15.11.2014, it is noticed that the same has, inter-alia, made a provision for ex-gratia grants 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 each deceased person in respect of 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.

¶8By order dated 10.08.2022, the respondents were put to notice. But till date, no response has been filed by any of the respondents.

¶9Both Mr. Bhattacharya and Mr. Deuri 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 Mr. Deuri, 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 Page No.# 5/6 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 victim, mentioned above; secondly, the claim of the petitioner as one of the Next of Kins [NoKs] of the victim who stated to have died as a result of the said alleged road traffic accident; and thirdly, the claim regarding occurrence of the accident at a public place.

¶10This 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 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.

¶11Taking 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 responses from the respondents, who have not filed any response since 10.08.2022, 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 the victim 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. After such verification and consideration of all relevant aspects including the three aspects, as highlighted by the learned counsel for the State respondents, by calling for reports from the other authorities, wherever, the proposal can thereafter, be forwarded by the Page No.# 6/6 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 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, Udalguri along with a copy of the writ petition with the annexures, from the petitioner. The petitioner and/or the other Next of Kins [NoKs] of the deceased person is/are directed to extend his/their assistance and cooperation during the process of such verification and shall furnish the relevant information/documents, available at his/their disposal, to facilitate the process of verification, as and when asked for.

¶12With the observations made and directions given above, the writ petition stands disposed of. No cost.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010157382022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5175/2022o MANAMAYAoDEVIo W/OoDHANoBAHADURoCHETRY,o VILL.-oNO.o2oRANGAPANI,oP.S.oMAZBAT,oDIST.-oUDALGURIo(BTAD),oASSAM, PIN-o784101. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o REVENUEo(RELIEFoANDoREHABILITATION)oANDoDISASTERo MANAGEMENToDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGHY-o6. 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oUDALGURIo(BTAD) oASSAM oPIN-o784509. 3:THEoSUPERINTENDENToOFoPOLICE oUDALGURIo(BTAD) oASSAM oPIN-o784509. 4:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oMAZBAToREVENUEoCIRCLE oP.S.oMAZBAT oDIST.-oUDALGURIo(BTAD) oASSAM oPIN-o784507. 5:THEoOFFICER-IN-CHARGE oMAZBAToPOLICEoSTATION oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAZBAT Page No.# 2/6 DIST.- UDALGURI (BTAD) ASSAM PIN- 784507 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. W RAHMAN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY