In a heartbreaking case, the Delhi High Court has directed electricity distributor BSES to provide ₹10 lakhs in compensation to the widow of a man who tragically lost his life after being electrocuted in a marketplace in 2017. The man, a sub-inspector with the Delhi Police, was sheltering from the rain when he came into contact with an iron gate, unknowingly touching an exposed live wire.
Though the court ruled that BSES could not be held directly responsible for the fatal incident, citing insufficient evidence of negligence, it awarded the compensation on sympathetic grounds. The widow had sought ₹50 lakhs, arguing that poor maintenance of the wires by BSES led to her husband’s untimely death. However, the court determined that BSES was only responsible for maintaining meters and not the outgoing wires, which were under the shopkeeper’s control as per electrical safety regulations.
Despite this, the court took into account the emotional toll on the family and acknowledged that the state, under certain conditions, can be held accountable for not protecting a citizen’s right to life. Yet, in this case, the principle of presumed liability didn’t apply as no negligence was found on BSES’s part.
While the court did reduce the requested compensation, the ₹10 lakhs ex gratia payment is meant to support the widow, who has already received substantial pensionary benefits from the Delhi Police.
