Chhattisgarh High Court Holds State Power Company Liable For Electrocution Death Due To Improper Earthing

The Chhattisgarh High Court recently affirmed the liability of the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL) for the electrocution death of a woman.

Referring to the Supreme Court's case of M.P. Electricity Board v. Shail Kumari and Others (2002), the bench comprising Justice Rajani Dubey and Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal applied the strict liability principle, where it was held that a person or organization engaged in a hazardous activity is liable for any harm caused, regardless of fault or negligence.

The case revolves around the death of a lady due to electrocution while using a bore pump at her residence. The plaintiffs (her husband and children) filed a civil suit seeking compensation of ₹11 lakh, citing the responsibility of the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL).

The plaintiffs argued that the incident resulted from CSPDCL's negligence in maintaining electrical safety, particularly the earthing system.

Conversely, the company-defendant denied liability, stating that the accident occurred due to the homeowner's improper internal wiring and the deceased's negligence.

Based on the evidence, the trial court found the defendants liable under the principle of strict liability. Compensation of ₹10,37,680 was awarded to the plaintiffs, including ₹9,67,680 for dependency loss and ₹70,000 for mental agony, loss of estate, and funeral expenses, with 9% annual interest from the incident date.

Aggrieved by the impugned judgment, the defendant company approached the High Court in the first appeal.

The judgment authored by Justice Rajani Dubey affirmed the trial court's decision and found the defendant company liable to compensate the deceased. Referring to M.P. Electricity Board's case, the Court said that in cases of strict liability, the defendant is held liable regardless of whether he could have avoided the particular harm by taking precautions.

“Keeping in view the above decision, the admitted facts in this case and the overall evidence on record, as discussed above, this Court finds no illegality or infirmity in the findings recorded by the learned trial court holding that the appellants/defendants No. 1 & 2 liable for paying compensation to respondents No. 2 to 10/plaintiffs against death of Smt. Pancho Bai due to electrocution.”, the court held.

Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.

Appearance:

For Appellants : Mr. Raja Sharma, Advocate.

For Respondent No.1 : Mr. Sachhidanand Yadav, Panel Lawyer.

For Respondents No. 2 to 10 : Mr. B.L. Sahu, Advocate.

Case Title: Chhattisgarh Rajya Vidhyut Vitaran Company & Anr. v. State Of Chhattisgarh & Ors., FA No. 85 of 2023

Click here to read/download the judgment