P.C.Pandit, J.

1. It having been proved that Shiv Raj Kumar died on account of a live electric wire hanging down on the footpath of Rajbaha Ibban, and it was due to the gross neglect and carelessness of the Punjab Hydro-Electric Department, question arises as to what damages, if any, are his parents, who are plaintiffs in this case entitled?

2. The facts proved in this case are that the deceased on the date of his death was, according to the plaintiffs, 11 or 12 years of age, though, according to the defendants, he was 14 years old. He was studying in the fifth primary class. He had good physique and according to his teacher, he war, a mediocre student. His father was once Mukhtar of Messrs. Phaggu Mal Sant Ram, a firm of Amritsar, and later on, he became a clerk of an advocate there. The plaintiffs arc poor people and were allowed to file the suit as also the present appeal in forma pauperis. They have three other sons, aged 28, 24 and 20 years but they are all separate from them. The action has been brought under section 1-A of the Fatal Accidents Act, No. 13 of 1855, which runs as under:-

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"Whenever the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect or defau