M.S. Pattar vs Govt. Of N.C.T. Of Delhi And Ors.
2001 Latest Caselaw 1669 Del

JUDGMENT

Sanjay Kishan Kaul, J.

1. The present Public Interest Petition deals with the issue of death of certain beggars who were detained in Lampur (Nerala) Delhi Beggars Home under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as the 'said act'). The petitioner claims himself to be a social worker and is stated to have come to know of the death of these beggars from the article published in the Hindi newspaper 'Rashtriya Sahara' on 17.5.2001. Subsequent articles appeared in 'Dainik Jagran' and 'Hindustan Times'.

2. It is state din the petition that from news item of 23.5.2000 it became clear that deaths of 8 beggars of the arisen from contamination of water and food. The news item also show that a Magisterial enquiry was ordered on 19.5.2000 by the Chief Minister of Delhi. The petitioner prayed for the following directions in the writ petition:

i) issue a writ/order/direction in the nature of mandamus under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, be directed to be issued against the respondents to fix the responsibility who are responsible for the loss of lives of inmates;

ii) that to issue appropriate direction against the respondents that dependents of the inmates who died in the Beggars Home are entitled to compensation from the Respondents at least Rs. 5 lacs per head;

iii) that the Respondents or their subordinates who may be found responsible, be punished according to law severally and jointly; And

iv) to pass such further order or direction of this Hon'ble Court as may deem fit and proper."

3. After notice was issued in the petition, a direction was made on 28th November, 2000 for a visit by the Committee to the Lampur Home Complex and Tahirpur Sahadara Beggars Home and to submit a report with regard to the conditions prevailing therein. The Committee had been so appointed by the Division Bench of this Court on 23rd July, 1998 in C.W.P. No. 667/1997 - Somdutt and Ors. v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Ors. The committee was required to find out the reasons for the death of eight beggars in the Lampur Beggars Home. The committee submitted its report and this Court was of the view that the beggar homes were being run in an extremely callous and irresponsible manner without proper and adequate living arrangements for inmates. This is apparent from the order dated 10th January, 2001. Directions have been issued by the Court from time to time for improvement of the conditions of the beggar homes. When the petition was listed before us on 3rd September, 2001, learned counsel for the respondent stated that there were three other writ petitions filed on allied subject concerning beggars. This petition was adjourned to 3rd October, 2001 for which date the records of those files were called. Perusal of said petitions shows that directions had been issued by a Bench presided over by Hon'ble the Chief Justice for dealing with the problem of beggars in general. It would thus be proper to confine the scope of the prayer int he present petition to what was originally sought for by the petitioner.

4. An affidavit has been filed by Mr. No. Diwakar, Director, Department of Social Welfare dated 5th January, 2001 annexing the death certificates of various beggars detained at Lampur. The cause of death is mentioned as Cardio Respiratory failure. A brief fact finding Administrative Report has been filed by the SDM, Narela about the death of six beggars in the Lampur home. The report shows that there was contamination int he water supply and it did not measure up to the hygienic standards. It is also found that the Chlorinator plant was not functioning and the chlorine was never checked for maintenance. The hand pumps were found to be unsatisfactory and as a consequence thereof a large number of inmates suffered from gastroenteritis. The report found the presence of E.Coli which indicated faecal contamination in water and the probable cause of death is stated to be the passage of human excreta into the drinking water and subsequent passage of vibrio cholera bacteria from one inmate to another by way of simple transmission by contact through the water. it was found that the shallow ground water table as well as soil near the sources of water has been contaminated. Various suggestions were made to improve the conditions.

5. A detailed investigation pursuant to the report of SDM, Narela, was carried out by Shri Manpreet Singh, Inquiry Officer, who submitted a report dated 1st June, 2000. The report noted that there was cholera out-break in the beggars home and since contamination of water is reason of the same, there could be no doubt about the cause of deaths. it is further stated that since no post-mortem had been carried out in all the six cases, the fact that the patients died of cholera cannot be established, notwithstanding the report of the part time doctor, Sh. Sukhija declaring the deaths to be natural. The report found that the Superintendents of In-charge of the Home had failed to take certain precautions and if they had been vigilant enough, immediate medical attention could have been provided to the inmates. The PWD, was held responsible for the lapse insofar as the leakage of the water from the rear wall of the bathroom was concerned which contaminated the water and the PWD, Electrical, was mainly held responsible for the generators not being functioning for operation of the tube wells.

6. In so far as the improvement of the conditions of the homes are concerned the reports have been filed from time to time to show the progress of the work.

7. It has been stated before us on 3rd October, 2001 by the learned counsel for the respondents that in pursuance to the report of the SDM, Narela and the subsequent report, Shri B.S. Tolia and Shri M.S. Meena Have been placed under suspension and are facing departmental proceedings. It is stated that proceedings for major penalties are in progress against these officers for the negligence in handling of the homes resulting in death of the inmates.

8. In view of the action which has already been initiated the only direction necessary is that the respondents will proceed expeditiously with the departmental proceedings and conclude the same within a period of six months from today. Order accordingly. Thus the first and third prayer in the petition stand satisfied in view of an enquiry having been held into the incident and the responsibility having been fixed. The respondent will take all further necessary action against the persons responsible for the tragedy.

9. Insofar as relief No. 2 is concerned, no relation has so far come forth in respect of the death of these beggars. If such a claim is received by the Department, it shall be duly examined and appropriate compensation will be assessed and disbursed to them.

10. We have already indicated that the present writ petition is being confined to the reliefs claimed for. We, however, note that in pursuance to the report of the Special Committee and the departmental action to remedy the situation in the beggars home, steps have been taken from time to time and reports have been filed. In view of this, we are inclined to issue a further direction to the respondents to complete the action in terms of making the homes more habitable in consonance with the reports of the fact finding Committee within a maximum period of six months from today.

11. With the aforesaid observations this petition stands disposed of.