Gujarat High Court enhances compensation for victims of Morbi bridge collapse

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday ordered private contractor Ajanta Oreva, the directors of which are accused in the Morbi bridge collapse case, to enhance the compensation payable to the victims of the tragic incident. [Suo Motu PIL vs State of Gujarat].The contractor had initially offered to pay an amount of ₹3.5 lakh to the kin of those who lost lives in the incident and ₹ 50,000 to those who sustained injuries. .This morning, Senior Advocate Nirupam Nanavti, appearing for the contractor, submitted that the company has decided to enhance the amounts to ₹ 5 lakh and ₹ 1 lakh to be paid to the deceased and the injured respectively..However, the division bench of Chief Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice Sandeep Bhatt found the amounts to be less and not in consonance with what the Supreme Court had laid down in its judgment in Sanjay Gupta vs State of UP. In the Sanjay Gupta case, the top court had issued guidelines on the payment of compensation and called for private entities to pay 55 per cent of the compensation to the victims, if such private parties are responsible for any incident. In view of the same, the High Court ordered Ajanta to pay to ₹10 lakh to kin of deceased and ₹2 lakh to those injured."The State has paid an amount of ₹ 8 lakh and the Central government through PM Relief Fund has paid ₹ 2 lakh for the victims. We have noted that the Contractor has offered to pay some compensation, but we think this amount does not match with the apportionment of 55 per cent as ordered by the apex court. Thus, we direct the company to enhance the compensation amount for deceased to ₹ 10 lakh and ₹ 2 lakh for those injured in the incident," the Court said. The case concerns the collapse of a 141-year-old suspension bridge known as Jultu Pul in Morbi, Gujarat. The bridge collapsed on October 30, last year, killing hundreds after it was reopened following repairs and maintenance by the Oreva Group. The Gujarat High Court took suo motu cognizance in the matter in November..The bench, in its order on Wednesday, recorded that the company has already offered to take full care of seven children orphaned after the incident, right from their residence to their education and jobs. "However, we believe the State too must extend the benefits of its various schemes to these orphaned children. Also, it has to look after the needs of those children, who have lost one parent in the incident," the Court ordered. Advocate General Kamal Trivedi informed the Court that the State has also decided to extend the benefits of relevant schemes, such as Balak Mata Pita Yojana, Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra Yojana etc. to the children (both orphaned and those, who lost one parent) over and above the compensation already being paid. .The Court further asked the State to consider having a dedicated authority to properly verify and certify if a bridge is fit to use, after State engineers finish repair works, as it would bring in more accountability. The State was asked to introduce such a policy within 15 days.The Court noted that the Roads and Bridges Department of the State looks after over 1,400 plus bridges. It has a policy whereby all bridges are inspected twice a year - once prior to onset of the monsoon and once after monsoon. This policy, the Advocate General had submitted, was efficient and helped to ascertain which bridge needs repairs.A similar policy, the AG said, would be made applicable to 461 bridges under the control of the State's Urban Development Department (UDD). He added that, as of now, 398 bridges under the UDD did not require any kind of repairs and were fit to use. .The bench was also informed that the State's proceedings to supersede and take over the Morbi Nagar Palika is halfway done and that a decision is likely to be taken soon. Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Manisha Lavkumar, who also represents the government, submitted a copy of the charge-sheet filed against the accused in the lower court. She assured the bench that the compensation would be dispersed properly without any filters.The matter would be next heard after two weeks.