Vipin Sanghi, J.

1. The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been preferred by the petitioners for issuance of an appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondents to pay the petitioners suitable amount of compensation with interest, for loss of lives and injuries suffered in a tragic fire incident in a factory/business premises of respondent No.2.

2. An unfortunate fire incident took place on 25.01.2011 in the premises of M/s Amazing Creation Garment Export Factory at Tughlakabad area of South Delhi, where 14 workmen died and 5 other workmen were injured. The FIR of the said incident was registered on 26.01.2011 with PS Govindpuri, u/s 287,337,338,304-A IPC as FIR No 23/2011.

3. Petitioner no 1 is the father of the deceased workman Amir Siddiqui, petitioner no 2 is the husband of the deceased workman Lalita Devi, petitioner no 3 is the father of deceased workman Shabbo, petitioner no 4 is the father of the deceased workman Mohd. Nizamuddin, petitioner no 5 is the husband of deceased workman Suman Devi, petitioner no 6 is the father of the deceased workman Mohd. Rais, petitioner no 7 is the father of the deceased workman Alam, and petitioner no 8 is the injured workman Rizwan in person. The deceased workmen along with petitioner no 8 were working as “helper” with M/s Amazing Creation, dealing in the manufacture and packing of garments and export of various type of garments – according to the petitioners and, dealing in dry cleaning, according to respondent No.2. According to the petitioners, the duties performed by the workmen included the acts of thread cutting, ironing, and chemical washing of the garments for export.

4. The respondent no 1 is the State (NCT of Delhi) and respondent no 2 is the owner of the factory, M/S Amazing Creations Co, Mr. Shamim Khan.

5. It is the case of the petitioners that on the fateful day of the fire accident, all the deceased workmen and the injured workmen were working on the fifth floor of the factory, when suddenly the boiler in the hall area of the said floor burst, resulting into a massive fire. Due to highly inflammable liquid being stored near the boiler, the fire spread rapidly - engulfing the area where the workers had been working. The petitioners further allege that due to the narrow staircase, and placement of generator near the staircase, the workmen could not escape from the fire. Moreover, the walls and roof of the floor were made of fibre sheet, which aggravated the fire, trapping all the workmen in its embrace. The petitioners claim that the loss of life and injuries to the injured has resulted in severe impairment of the fundamental right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and the said accident took place due to the acts and omissions of the respondents.

6. Ld Counsel for the petitioners submit that the respondent no 1 i.e the State, NCT of Delhi has miserably failed to discharge their statutory duties by not preventing the factory owner, respondent no 2 from running the said factory in flagrant violation of all statutory laws relating to fire prevention, building bye laws, labour laws etc which resulted into the deaths and injury of the workmen.

7. Ld counsel for the petitioners further submit that even after the fire incident, the various agencies of respondent no 1 have been lackadaisical in their attitude to grant compensation for the incident, or initiate appropriate and prompt action against respondent no 2.and have, instead, been passing the buck to each other.

8. The petitioners’ grievance is that they have been running from pillar to post to secure compensation from respondent no 1 and its agencies, but to no avail. The petitioners first approached the Hon’ble Chief Minister Lt. Governor of Delhi vide letter dated 11.03.2011 which was forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner, Labour, (So