( 1. ) THE petitioners, legal representatives of Late Mahesh Singh jaudan, an Assistant Sub-Inspector, have invoked the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for grant of compensation of Rs. 8,00,000/- for his untimely death in the court premises at Gwalior which was earlier situated at Jayendra Ganj, Lashkar wherein the High Court and the District court were functioning in the same campus, the High Court in the first floor and the District judiciary on the ground floor.

( 2. ) THE expose of facts are that on 4-7-1998, late Mahesh Singh Jaudan had gone to the Court premises as he had to attend the Court duty in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gwalior about 2:30 p. m. , while he was standing in front of the concerned Court, an iron pipe approximately 40 ft. in length and 5 inches in diameter fitted in the wall fell on his head as a consequence of which he sustained grievous injuries on his head, left shoulder and right leg and bled profusely. He was shifted to J. A. Hospital by Indraganj police where he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit but eventually he succumbed to his injuries and breathed his last on 10-7-1998. It is averred that the death of said Mahesh Singh occurred due to the unfortunate accident which occurred due to improper fitting of the pipe and lapses in the maintenance of the building.

( 3. ) IT is pleaded that due to the death of the breadwinner of the family, the petitioners have become destitutes and have suffered tremendous mental agony. It is contended that he was getting monthly salary of Rs. 5,500/- in addition to other allowances and being a responsible husband and father, he was contributing extensively to the family. As he was about 47 years of age, there would have been hike in his salary component because of grant of increments and further he would have been promoted. It is urged that the petitioner No. 1 has been deprived of the love of her husband and the petitioners 2 to 5 have been untimely denied the love and affection of their father. It is set forth that the petitioners had demanded compensation from the respondents but when their request was not paid heed to, they were compelled to file the present writ petition. The petitioners have prayed for a compensation of Rs. 8,00,000/- for loss of dependency, loss of consortium, loss of estate, love and affection and towards medical and funeral expenses. ( 4. ) IT is contended that the respondents are exclusively responsible to maintain the building and it was their obligation to see that the people who come to the Court campus are safe. It is urged that the long and thick iron pipe which had fallen on the deceased reflects gross negligence on the part of the respondents to maintain the building and, therefore, the petitioners as legal representatives are entitled to compensation.

( 5. ) A return has been filed by the respondent No. 1 contending, inter alia, that the averments made in the petition constitute a tortious liability and hence, the petitioners are required to take recourse to the remedy under the common law and no case is made out for invocation of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. It is urged that though the building belongs to the High court, yet its maintenance is done under the supervision and control of the Public works Department of the State. After the death of the petitioner, a report was called for by the Registrar of the High Court, Bench at Gwalior from the Executive Engineer who reported that as per PWD manual, inspection of the building was made from time to time by the Sub-Engineer and Assistant Engineer and also the Executive Engineer on various dates. On the date of inspection, the building was found fit for occupation. The rain water pipes fixed on the walls of the high Court building were strong and fixed in place by iron clamps firmly and replacement of the same was not proposed in the inspection report of the Engineers. A Sub-engineer