Karnataka HC calls for nomination of Deputy Commissioners to release ad hoc compensation to kin of prisoners who died of unnatural causes

The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the state government to nominate Deputy Commissioners with a period of one month in order to release ad hoc compensation to the kin of prisoners who had succumbed to unnatural deaths in prisons.A Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar passed the order in compliance with various directions issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Re-Inhuman Conditions V State Of Assam in 2017. The case was in relation to unnatural deaths and inhuman conditions in 1,382 prisons across the country. .The High Court acted upon the suggestions given by of AAG Dhyan Chinnappa, who pointed that since final compensation would take up a lot of time, the Court should consider awarding ad hoc compensation to the next to kin of those prisoners whose deaths were unnatural in nature. The Court further stated that the structure and the formula of awarding compensation would be the same as mentioned in Section 163 A of the Motor Vehicles Act, where the primary factor is income.On the point of who will be entitled to such ad hoc compensation, the Court held,“…We propose to direct the test which is applied in the Motor Vehicles Act to find out who will be entitled for grant of compensation.”.In its order, the Karnataka High Court further stated that the next of kin of the deceased prisoners may not even be aware of the availability of such ad hoc compensation. In order to deal with this issue, the Court made the following suggestions: Firstly, to obtain information from jail authorities pertaining to names of kin of deceased prisoners. Secondly, to publish notices in local languages calling upon the next of kin to submit their names.The Court further stated, "In the event deputy commissioners reject the ad hoc compensation claims and if they desire to challenge it may do so by filing interlocutory applications.".The matter will be next listed on March 16. On or before the same day, a compliance report will also have to be filled by the state government on the appointment of deputy commissioners of police in districts to facilitate the release of ad hoc compensation to those eligible. The Court, however, clarified that that all districts need not have different deputy commissioners.In an earlier order passed in October last year, the Karnataka High Court had directed the government to compute ad hoc compensation owing to 65 unnatural deaths. These include suicides between January 1, 2012 and May 31, 2019 in the state’s prisons.