Kerala HC Initiates Suo Moto Proceedings Over Snapped Power Line Claiming Two Lives [Read Order]

The High Court of Kerala has taken suo moto notice of the tragic death of two persons due to electrocution from a broken power line and registered a writ petition to ensure that the Kerala State Electricity Board comes up with "concrete proposals" for preventing such mishaps in future. 

The accident was reportedly caused when two person came in contact with a power line which got snapped in heavy rains.

Based on media reports of the incident, Justice Devan Ramachandran directed the High court registry to register a suo moto writ petition arraying the State of Kerala represented by Chief Secretary and the State Electricity Board as essential respondents to the case. The court further ordered that the paper reports of the incident be appended to the writ petition and be placed before the Chief Justice for appropriate orders / further consideration in this context.

"This court is exercising jurisdiction in "Electricity Matters" and is concerned with the various Statutes, Rules and Regulations relating to electric supply and its imperative safety requirements:and I am of the firm view that this Court cannot, be, therefore,be blind to this incident that has taken away the lives of two citizens of this State. I feel the situation to be grave because this is something that can happen with respect to any electric line in the State and such an accident can befall any citizen. Indubitably, therefore, the Electricity Board will have to now come up with concrete solutions to ensure that such incidents do not happen in the future", Justice Devan said in the order.

The court further made it clear that though it did not contemplate to cause any investigation to the incident or to the events that led to the horrific accident, it wanted the State electricity board to come up with concrete proposals to ensure such mishaps do not occur in future.

The Court said that the proceeding was "vital and pertinent" as the state was facing monsoons.

Click here to download the order