ORDER

Date : 10-08-2021 The Court proceedings have been conducted through online court proceeding services.

2. Heard Mr. A.F.N.U. Mollah, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. R. Talukdar, learned Junior Government Advocate for the respondent nos. 1, 4, 5 & 6; and Mr. R. Borpujari, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department & Finance Department for the respondent nos. 2 & 3.

3. The present writ petition has been preferred seeking a direction to the respondent authorities to grant ex-gratia amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- to the petitioner as the next of kin of a person killed due to accident in public places or in public carriers (other than killed by extremist/terrorist/miscreants and due to firing of security forces) in terms of the policy formulated by the Revenue &

Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam.

3. It is projected on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner is the wife of one Akbar Ali. It is averred that at about 07-00 a.m. on 21.08.2015, when Akbar Ali was going to Chapar from Bilasipara in a JCB 3EX Super Backhoe Loader bearing Registration no. AS-17/B-6584 (‘the vehicle’, for short), the said vehicle suddenly turn turtle and due to rash and negligent driving on the part of the driver of the said vehicle. As a result of the said accident, Akbar Ali sustained serious injuries on his person and succumbed to death at the spot. The post- mortem examination of the dead body was conducted on 21.08.2015 in the Civil Hospital, Dhubri. A general diary entry being G.D. Entry no. 350 dated 21.08.2015 was registered in that connection. Consequently, a police case being Chapar Police Station Case no. 521/2015 came to be registered under Sections 279/304A, IPC. After preliminary investigation, the Investigating Officer (I.O.) of the case submitted an accident information report in Form No. 52. After the death of her husband, the petitioner had submitted a representation before the respondent no. 4 on 26.12.2016 seeking the relief of ex-gratia grant as the next of kin of Late Akbar Ali was killed in a road traffic incident purportedly occurred in a public place in terms of the policy formulated by the respondent Revenue &

Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam.

4. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that despite submission of the representation on 26.12.2016, no response was received. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioner has approached this Court seeking the relief, mentioned above.

5. Both Mr. Talukdar and Mr. Borpujari have submitted that by a notification dated 15.11.2014, the Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam have formulated a policy whereby an ex-gratia to the next of kin of a person killed due to accident in public places or in public carriers (other than killed by extremist/terrorist/miscreants and due to firing of security forces) is payable and the said amount is Rs. 2,00,000/-. They have further submitted that the veracity of the claim made by the petitioner as regards the death of the deceased, Akbar Ali in a road traffic accident and the status of the petitioner as a next of kin of the said deceased are to be verified at the end of the respondent authorities and it only thereafter, the claim of the petitioner can be accepted. It is further submitted that this writ petition can be disposed of at this stage with a direction to the respondent authorities to verify and examine the claim of the petitioner to similar directions as have been made by this Court in other similar writ petitions.

6. Upon due consideration of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties, this Court is of the considered view that the claim for the relief of ex-gratia grant under the policy calls for an expeditious consideration. Taking an overall view of the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the parties and the rationale behind the policy formulated by the Government of Assam in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department by the notification dated