Utility officials cannot be criminally prosecuted for accidents unless clear negligence is proven, emphasizing facts must support prosecution claims.

This Criminal Miscellaneous Case is filed to quash the proceedings in C.C.No.1819 of 2015 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Njarakkal.

The above case is charge sheeted alleging offences punishable under Sections 304 (A) r/w 34 IPC .

2.Petitioners are the officers of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). They were working in the KSEB office at Njarakkal. The prosecution case is that, an electric line near the Cherali Balabadra Temple fell down on 18.07.2013. At that time, the deceased in this case passed through that place and he electrocuted because of the live line of the KSEB which fell down. The prosecution case is that the electrocution happened because of the negligence on the part of the petitioners. Hence it is alleged that the accused committed the above said offences.

3.Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and the learned Public Prosecutor.

4.This Court perused the impugned final report and the documents produced along with the same. It is an admitted fact that the deceased died due to electric shock as evident by Annexure A-2 postmortem certificate. Annexure A-3 is the inquest report. The prosecution case is that the overhead electric line of Electric post No.16/1A fell down because of the failure on the part of the petitioners herein because they did not maintain the line properly and further, they failed to remove a branch that overlapped the overhead electric line. The offence alleged is under Section 304A IPC . is extracted hereunder:

“ 304A. Causing death by negligence. --Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”

5.Even if the entire allegations against the petitioners are accepted, I am of the considered opinion that the criminal prosecution against the petitioners who are the staff of the KSEB is not sustainable. There may be civil liability to the KSEB. It is true that unfortunate thing happened. But the KSEB officials cannot be prosecuted for the death of a person because of electrocution in all situation. Each case is to be decided based on the facts in it. In this case, I am of the considered opinion that no criminal liability can be attributed to the petitioners, who are KSEB officials. But as I mentioned earlier, the legal heirs of the deceased can approach the competent court for damages/compensation. But the criminal prosecution need not be continued.

Hence, this Criminal Miscellaneous Case is allowed. All further proceedings as against the petitioners in C.C.No.1819/2015 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Njarakkal arising from Crime No.1118/2013 of Njarakkal Police Station are quashed.