JUDGMENT

Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, J.

1.Heard learned counsel for parties.

2.This appeal by the Kerala State Electricity Board is against a decree for compensation granted on account of electrocution.

3.The plaintiff then a minor, aged about 5 years, suffered burn injuries to his palm and right leg as a result of electric shock on 04.10.2000. The allegation was that the child got electric shock when he touched the staywire of an electric post in the precincts of his homestead and this was because the insulation of the cross-arm of the electric post standing in the property was removed. The defence of the K.S.E. Board was that the incident occurred because the plaintiff child had forcefully shaken the staywire and thereby the staywire touched with the live wire and thereby the electric current passed through the staywire. No oral or documentary evidence was adduced by R.F.A 482/08 2 K.S.E. Board. Added to this is the evidence of the Electrical Inspector as PW4 corroborating the contents of the statutory report – Exts. X1 and X1(a) (same as Ext.A6). Such evidence inculpate the K.S.E.B on express terms. We see no ground to accept such a defence, having regard to the doctrine of strict