What is the price of human life in Mumbai? Bombay High Court to examine negligence of civic bodies

The Bombay High Court on Thursday initiated a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) to examine the lack of accountability of civic bodies as well as their mechanism for compensation for deaths due to negligence..A Bench of Justices GS Patel and Kamal Khata took cognisance of three newspaper articles, the most recent being an article dated April 3, titled Life comes cheap for India's richest corporation.The articles reported missing children who were found dead in a poorly covered water tank on April 1..The Court deduced that it was inconceivable that a municipal corporation could have no responsibility or liability for an accident or a death that had been caused due to its negligence."These three news reports raise a question of public law. What is the price of a human life in this city? Are the so called “budgetary constraints” of the BMC an answer for a failure to provide minimal safety precaution during civic works? There will be issues regarding civic responsibility, questions of negligence and financial responsibility as well, not just for the individual officers of the BMC, but also for the Corporation as a body," the Court observed. .The issue stems from the disappearance of two children on March 31. Their parents registered a kidnapping case after they went missing from a public garden at Wadala.During its search, the police found that the paper covers of the garden tanks were torn, and that the two children had drowned in the tank. News reports on the incident highlighted negligence on the part of the civic authorities..During the hearing, the Court highlighted that the issues raised in the present PIL could affect every local body entrusted with carrying out civic works in its jurisdiction.Instead of issuing notices to all municipal corporations, the Bench deemed it fit to issue notice to the Advocate General of Maharashtra government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).It also appointed Senior Advocate Sharan Jagtiani and Advocate Mayur Khandeparkar as amicii in the case..[Read order]