Karnataka HC rejects BESCOM officials’ plea to quash criminal case in electrocution incident
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash a criminal case registered against BESCOM officials after the death of a woman and her nine-month-old child due to electric shock as the woman came in contact with a live wire broken and lying on a public road.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, who was a part of the single-judge bench hearing the case, dismissed the plea by BESCOM Executive Engineer Sriram and the Assistant Executive Engineer to quash the case filed against them under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (causing death by negligence), reports LiveLaw. The case was registered against the officials based on a police complaint filed by Santhosh Kumar, husband of the deceased woman.
The bench pointed out that, as the wife and the child of the complainant have died, it would amount to negligence, and that who holds responsibility in such cases of negligence would always be a matter of investigation or trial.
Stating that innocent lives were lost due to the negligence of the Electricity Department officers, Justice Nagaprasanna added that the officers would have to face the law and need to be accountable for what he called ‘a casual loss of life of a citizen’. “It is high time that these officers wake up, right from top brass to the man on the field and put their effort to obviate such instances being repeated overall again, as a citizen cannot bear the impact of repetition of such negligence, leading to death of lives,” he told the petitioners.
The complainant Santhosh Kumar had told the police that on November 19, 2023, they went to Hope Farm. His wife was carrying their nine-month-old daughter, when she came in contact with the live wire lying on the street, and the mother-daughter duo died of electrocution, suffering an electric shock.
As the locals reacted strongly to the incident, BESCOM transferred Sriram and suspended the second petitioner, but the High Court reversed both orders, forcing the petitioners to request the court to quash the case against them.
While the advocate representing BESCOM argued that the Assistant Engineer could be considered responsible for the incident, at the most. The petitioners, who held the posts of executive engineer and the assistant executive engineer under BESCOM, had no wrongdoing which could be directly attributed to them.
The prosecution, however, opposed the plea, saying many officials are charged in the case and everybody cannot wash off their hands on the basis of a report of an officer of the Electrical Inspectorate of the Electricity Department, who is an officer of BESCOM. It also rejected the report of the Electrical Inspectorate, which, after its inquiry, opined that it was ‘nobody’s fault’ and quashed the order of suspension.
Justice Nagaprasanna stressed that the death due to electric shock could not be compared to a branch of a tree falling on a passerby. He pointed out that the broken live wire had been brought to the notice of the Department through the BESCOM helpline and the junior engineer was to attend to it, as it was his duty to immediately attend to helpline complaints. The judge also said, “Merely because other officers from Station Operator in the hierarchy have different roles and responsibility, they being officers of BESCOM in the operation and maintenance department, have to undertake periodic checks of wires that are snapped and hanging. It is here the role of all these persons would become applicable.”
The statement of the Electrical Inspectorate in its inquiry report, calling it ‘nobody’s fault’, would not mean that these petitioners will be left off the hook, as the investigation in the least, should be permitted to continue, the High Court has stated.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
