ORDER

1. Petitioner, a distributor of Indian Oil Corporation has approached this Court taking exception to the Order dated 27.6.2016 saddling petitioner with the liability of payment of compensation to the respondent No. 4 for having lost his wife and son in an unforeseen explosion of LPG gas cylinder supplied by the petitioner, while was being used at home through burner.

2. Compensation has been awarded u/s 6 of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 (for short 'the Act of 1991' hereinafter). Petitioner also challenges the Order passed by the Additional Commissioner while dismissing the revision petition against the said Order.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner has tried to impress upon this Court that the procedure prescribed under sub-sections (4) and (5) of section 7 has not been followed in the matter of an inquiry, though summary in nature required to be conducted by the Collector.

4. Further elaborating his submissions, learned counsel submits that petitioner is only a distributor and not the owner of the gas cylinders. If for any fault, the explosion has taken place in the gas cylinder, it is the Indian Oil Corporation liable for the same and not the petitioner. Aforesaid jurisdictional facts have not been addressed by the Collector in the matter of awarding compensation. Accordingly, the impugned award deserves to be set aside.

5. Per contra, Shri Vijaywargiya, learned State counsel and learned counsel for the respondent No. 4 points out section 2, the definition clause of the Act of 1991, to draw the attention of this Court whereunder the word 'handling' has been defined u/s 2 (c) and the word 'owner' has been defined u/s 2 (g) and also section 3 of the Act of 1991 which deals with no fault liability to give relief, which reads as under:

"2. Definition-

(a) xxxx

(b) xxxx

(c) 'handling', in relation to any hazardous substance, means the manufacture, processing, treatment, package, storage, transportation by vehicle, use, collection, destruction, conversion, offering for sale, transfer or the like of such hazardous substance;

(d) xxxx

(e) xxxx

(f) xxxx

(g) 'owner' means a person who owns, or has control over handling, any hazardous substance at the time of accident and includes -

(i) in the case of firm, any of its partners;

(ii) in the case of an association, any of its members; and

(iii) in the case of a company, any of its directors, managers, secretaries or other officers who is directly in charge of, and is responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company;

3. Liability to give relief in certain cases on principle of no fault - (1) Where death or injury to any person (other than a workman) or damage to any property has resulted from an accident, the owner shall be liable to give such relief as is specified in the Schedule for such death, injury or damage.

(2) In any claim for relief under sub-section (1) (hereinafter referred to in this Act as claim for relief), the claimant shall not be required to plead and establish that the death, injury or damage in respect of which the claim has been made was due to any wrongful act, neglect or default of any person."

6. Learned counsel for the respondents submits that admittedly petitioner is a distributor of Indian Oil Corporation having an agency for distribution of LPG cylinders. Undisputedly, the respondent No. 4 is one of the consumers of gas connection registered with the petitioner agency. The gas cylinder was supplied therefrom and installed in the house of respondent No. 4. Due to the explosion, the wife and son of respondent No. 4 have passed away. Under such circumstances, respondent No. 4 has submitted an application for compensa-tion under section 3 of the Act of 1991 under 'no fault liability clause'.

7. The Collector, upon consideration of section 2 (c) and 2 (g), regard being had to the definition of 'handling' and 'owner,' has crystallized the liability and called upon the petitioner to pay compensation to the tune of Rs. 25,