By IANS,
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday ordered Jaipur Golden transport company and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to pay compensation to the families of three people killed and the 31 injured due to poisonous fumes emitted from the company godown in a fire in 2004.
The court also imposed fine of Rs.1 lakh on Jaipur Golden transport company.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan asked Jaipur Golden to compensate the families of the three who died in the 2004 fire. The court directed the company to pay compensation to the families of Aakash (Rs.593,800), Babulal (Rs.633,800) and Ved Prakash (Rs.833,800), who died of the poisonous gas.
The court also granted compensation of Rs.50,000 each to all the 31 people who were injured.
The accident dates back to April 4, 2004, when fire broke out in a Jaipur Golden godown in the capital in which it had stored a consignment of rodent killing pesticides. These contained aluminium phosphate and zinc phosphate.
When the fire brigade personnel sprayed water to douse the fire, the stored chemicals began emitting deadly phosphine gas for the next three days.
“Due to inhalation of the gas, people who lived near the godown started falling ill and complained of breathlessness, pain in the chest, vomiting and stomach ache,” submitted Aruna Mehta for Jaipur Golden Gas Victims’ Association.
“In the present case, we find that the transport company breached the duty of care owed to the fire and gas victims, thereby exposing them to an unreasonable risk of injury,” the court observed while awarding compensation.
The court also directed that 85 percent of the amount of compensation will be given by the transport company and 15 percent by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).