The main legal point established in the judgment is the liability of the electricity company under the Electricity Act, 2003 for negligence leading to a fatal accident and the entitlement of the dependents to reasonable compensation.

JUDGMENT

T. V. Nalawade, J. - The petition is filed for relief of compensation of rupees ten lakh in respect of death of one Ashok Kakde, who died due to electrocution.

2. Both the sides are heard.

3. Petitioner No.1 is the widow of deceased Ashok and Petitioner Nos.2 and 3 are sons of deceased Ashok. The incident took place on 31st July, 2014 in land Gat No.12 owned by Ashok. It is contended that on that day, there was rain and the deceased was working in the field. It is contended that he had gone for starting electric motor and at that time Petitioner No.1 was present in the house, which is situated in the same land. It is contended that supply of electricity was taken from a pole situated near the well for electric pump. It is contended that when Petitioner No.1 heard hue and cry of the deceased, she came out and she saw that the deceased was lying near the well. It is contended that the deceased was shifted to Government Hospital, Vaijapur, but the doctor declared that he was already dead.

4. It is the contentions of the Petitioners that during inquiry made under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, statements were recorded, inquest was prepared and postmortem was conducted and it became clear that the death took place due to cardio respiratory arrest due to electric shock. It is contended that the incident took place due to fault of Respondent Nos.2 and 3, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company, Aurangabad as proper steps were not taken in respect of one tension wire of aforesaid pole and due to that there was power leakage. The said electric pole was at the distance of hardly 10 to 15 feet from the well and so it is contended that compensation needs to be given by Respondent Nos.2 and 3.

5. Respondent Nos.2 and 3 have filed reply. They admitted that the death took place due to shock due to electricity, but they have denied that there was negligence on the part of Respondent Nos.2 and 3 and due to that the incident took place. It is contended that for Gat No.12 electricity connection was given in favour of Bhausaheb Kakde, brother of deceased and the deceased had taken illegal connection from said kitkat to his agricultural pump. It is contended that the deceased was engaged in taking supply of electricity from the pole illegally and during that activity, the incident might have happened. It is contended that the Electrical Inspector carried out investigation and his report is also to that effect. They have prayed for dismissal of the petition.

6. Respondent No.4, Electrical Inspector has filed reply and Respondent No.4 has supported the contentions made by Respondent Nos.2 and 3.

7. It is not disputed that Ashok died due to cardio respiratory arrest due to electric shock. The postmortem report in that regard is available, which is not disputed. The postmortem report shows that in column No.17, there is mention that there were surface wounds like abrasions at left index finger and the left heel. The inquest report is also not disputed and in the inquest report dated 31st July, 2014, Panch witnesses gave opinion that the death took place before 18:50 hours on 31st July, 2014 due to electric shock. The spot Panchanama was prepared on 1st August, 2014. In the reply, this document is not disputed and it shows that one cement electric pole was fixed in the field and from that pole there were four wires and out of the four wires, three green wires were taken upto the kitkat board and from the kitkat board there was a black wire upto the starter box. One cable wire was taken from the pole upto the house of Karhari Kakde. There were two tension wires fixed to the pole. To one tension wire, there was a stay insulator, but to other tension wire, there was no stay insulator. Around the electric pole, there was Binni grass. The spot Panchanama shows that the well was situated at the distance of 75 feet from the pole and only one electric motor was fixed on the well.

8. The submissions made and the record show that the