[2006 Meerut Fire Tragedy] Organisers, State liable to pay compensation to injured/ families of deceased: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday held that injured persons and families of deceased in the 2006 Meerut fire tragedy are entitled to be paid compensation [Sanjay Gupta and ors v. Secretary of Uttar Pradesh through its Chief Secretary and ors.]..A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian held that the State government and the organisers of the consumer exhibition during which the tragedy unfolded, are liable to pay compensation which has to be computed in accordance with the principles of just compensation similar to payment of compensation to accident victims under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.The State will be liable to pay 40 percent compensation while the organisers will have to pay 60 percent. "The list of deceased and injured persons has been produced by the learned counsel for the petitioners. The amount of compensation payable to each of the victim including the families of the deceased have not been computed and such amount is required to be computed in accordance with the principles of just compensation as in the case of accident under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal," the Court held.The Court directed the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court to entrust the work of determination of compensation to a Judicial Officer in the rank of District Judge/Additional District Judge at Meerut within two weeks."The High Court shall provide all necessary infrastructure to enable the Officer to discharge his duties. The nominated Judicial Officer may permit the parties to lead such evidence as may be permissible. We hope that the nominated Judicial Officer shall calculate the amount of compensation and forward the report to this Court for consideration in respect of compensation in accordance with law," the Court said.The Court further directed that the amount which has been already paid by the State and which is deposited by the organisers shall be disbursed to the victims.The District Judge shall take into account the aforesaid amount while computing the compensation for the victims. The judgment came nearly after 16 years of the tragedy. .The Meerut fire catastrophe occurred on April 10, 2006 on the final day of Mrinal Events & Expositions’ India Brand Consumer Show in Victoria Park. Almost 2.000 people were present at the time of the fire. The incident claimed the lives of 65 persons and left 161 or more with burn injuries.The appellant, who had lost five members of his family in the incident, filed the case in 2006. The plea was entered on the grounds that the State‘s probe into the tragedy was improperly conducted. .Earlier, the State of Uttar Pradesh had appointed retired Justice OP Garg to investigate the incident in terms of provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952. Justice Garg submitted his report in 2007. That report was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2015 in the case of Sanjay Gupta and ors v. State of Uttar Pradesh. The Supreme Court formed another committee under the chairmanship of Justice SB Sinha as one-man commission. Justice Sinha submitted his report in June 2015 with certain recommendations and findings.The findings included inter alia that the organizers deliberately and intentionally suppressed material facts before the concerned authorities while applying for grant of permissions. The commission determined the liability of the State and organisers as 40% and 60% respectively..The Supreme Court observed that the people who visited the place on the day of tragedy have no privity of contract with the contractor and it was the responsibility of the organisers to have ensure the safety of the visitors. "The ticket proceeds were collected by the organizers. It is the responsibility of the organizers, having collected the entry fee, to ensure the safety and well-being of the visitors. The Organizers have failed in that duty causing loss of life of the innocent victims who came to see the exhibition, which was purely a commercial event with an intention to earn profit by the organizers," the Court said..The organisers had a reasonable duty towards the victims and since the the property of the organizers was what caught fire on account of their negligence, they are liable to pay compensation.Further, the Court also noted that the organisers had neither applied for permission under the Uttar Pradesh Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act, 2005 nor had the nominated authority inspected the site.Therefore, the organizers and the State have been rightly saddled with liability for not taking precautions as mandated by the statute, the Court stated..It was a pre-requisite for the organizers to inform the civil administration about the structure which they were putting up for the purpose of exhibition..The organisers cannot escape liability and put the same on the contractor, the top court made it clear. "The victims or their families visited exhibition on the invitation of the organizers and not that of the contractor. The organizers were supposed to make arrangements for putting up the exhibition hall, providing electricity and water and also the food stalls for the facility of the victims/visitors. They cannot now take shelter on the ground that the contractor who was given work order on 9.3.2006 was an independent contractor and the victims should seek remedy from him," the bench ruled..It, therefore, held that the organisers are liable to pay compensation and directed the appointed Additional District Judge/District Judge deciding the just compensation to work on day-to-day basis to determine and disburse the compensation to the victims. The petition will be heard again after four months. .Senior Advocate Shanti Bhushan represented the respondent-organisers. Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa represented the petitioners. .[Read Judgment]