The judgment established the principles of compensation under public law and determined the standard compensation and pecuniary loss of dependency for the petitioners.

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J.

( 1 ) THE six petitioners are the fathers of six children who lost their lives on 06. 06. 1999 in what is known as 'the Vikas Nagar Drowning Tragedy'. The six boys who lost their lives and whose fathers have filed the present writ petition were between 14 to 17 years of age.

( 2 ) THE respondent Nos. 1 to 4 had arranged an annual training camp of the ncc w. e. f. 30. 05. 1997 to 09. 06. 1997 at Asha Ram Vedic Inter College, Vikas nagar, Dehradun, U. P. The six boys alongwith other fellow cadets had gone to attend the said training camp. Part of the training included the exercise of firing at a firing range which was at village Dhimawala near the Yamuna River. On 06. 06. 1999, some of the companies of the student cadets went for a firing exercise in the firing range at about 6. 00 a. m. in the morning. Lt. Col. D. K. Bansal, who was the Commandant of that camp, had given clear instructions to all the incharges of the camps as well as the students that no student should be allowed to go towards the river and take a bath therein for the reason that a very strong flow of water affects the river all of a sudden and this may endanger the lives of the students. It was also alleged that after the firing exercise was over, the respondent No. 4 (D. P. Saini) took a number of students with him for the purposes of taking a bath in the river. While the said persons, which included the six boys mentioned above, were taking a bath in the river, a huge quantity of water was released from the Dak Pathar Barrage as a consequence of which 11 children in total, including the six mentioned above, drowned in the water and lost their lives.

( 3 ) ACCORDING to the petitioners, the respondents failed and neglected in performing their duties and handling the cadets with due care. The cadets who were under their custody lost their lives because of the negligence on the part of the respondents. It is pointed out by the petitioners that a sum of rs 2. 75 lakhs have been received for the loss of lives of each of the cadets. This amount had been received prior to the filing of the present writ petition. It had been paid in the following manner:-

i ) NCC Cadets Welfare Society Rs 1,00,000/- ii) Government of NCT of Delhi Rs 1,00,000/-

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iii) U. P. Government Rs ?? 50,000/- iv) Delhi Government School Rs ?? 25,000/-

Students Insurance Fund Total Rs 2,75,000/-

( 4 ) THE present petition has been filed by the petitioners praying for enhancement of compensation to them. The learned counsel for the petitioners referred to some cases where, according to him, compensation to the extent of Rs 7. 5 lakhs and Rs 10 lakhs have been awarded by courts in death cases. The learned counsel referred to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of chairman, Railway Board and Others v. Mrs Chandrima Das and Ors: JT 2000 (1) SC 426. In this case, as pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioners, the Supreme Court had awarded compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to a lady who had been raped by an employee of the Railway Yatra Niwas. In Mrs Sudha Rasheed v. Union of India and Others: 1995 (1) Scale 77, the Supreme Court had awarded compensation of Rs 7. 5 lakhs for the custodial death of a lawyer. In Smt. Geeta and Others v. Lt. Governor and Others: 75 (1998) DLT 822, this court had awarded a compensation of Rs 5. 5 lakhs in favour of the petitioner for the custodial death of her husband. The learned counsel for the petitioner then referred to the decision in the case of Malkiyat Singh v. State of U. P. : 1998 (9) SCC 351 where the Supreme Court awarded the compensation of Rs 5 lakhs to the petitioner whose son had been killed in an alleged encounter. The learned counsel also referred to the decision of the Karnataka High Court in the case of Soubhagya devi v. Chief Secretary, State of Karnataka: 2001 Crl. L. J. 238. In this case, the Karnataka High Court had awarded compensation of Rs 5 lakhs to the petitioner in respect