Punjab and Haryana High Court orders State to pay ₹5 lakh to kin of youth who died by suicide at de-addiction centre

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently awarded a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the family of a 35-year-old man who died by suicide at a civil hospital’s de-addiction centre in 2017 [Barinder Dutt Vs. The State of Punjab & others].The division bench of Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Harpeet Kaur Jeewan attributed the death to the “lack of sensitivity” of the staff at the de-addiction centre. The victim had been slapped by an attendant.The Court said the end result was the patient, who was also suffering on account of various family problems, died by suicide in the de-addiciton centre’s bathroom.“The responsibility has to be shared by the State on account of the fact that the petitioner has lost his son though it was his hope that the de-addiction centre would cure him,” the Court said.The order was passed on a plea by the father of the deceased. .A magisterial enquiry had revealed that the victim used to remain in a “depressed mood”. His family members were also not cooperating with him as he was addicted to heroin. A counsellor had also revealed that due to his (victim's) wife committing suicide, he had gone to jail and he got addicted to drugs there.The Court said that even if he had suicidal tendencies, it was the duty of the State to take sufficient care. It added that an extra watch should have been kept so that he would not have been successful in his attempt.“Resultantly we award a sum of ₹5 lakhs to be paid to the petitioner within 2 months from the receipt of certified copy of this order,” it ordered.However, the Court also left it open to the petitioner to claim additional compensation in accordance with law. The Court disposed of the victim’s father’s petition for compensation, while closing a batch of petitions including a suo motu public interest litigation initiated by it in 2013 regarding the prevailing drug menace in Punjab. .Advocates Raj Kumar Gupta and Gaurav Mohunta were amici curiaeSenior Advocate RS Cheema with Advocates A S Cheema and Siddharth Bhukkal represented an intervenerSenior Advocate RS Rai with Advocates PS Ahluwalia and Vipul Joshi represented the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Director General Dinkar GuptaAdvocates R Kartikeya, Sidhu Bansal, Ridhi Bansal, and R Akanksha represented former IPS officer Siddharth ChattopadhyayaAdvocate Anandeshwar Gautam appeared for former IPS officer Shashi KantAdditional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain and Senior Government Counsel Arun Gosain represented the Union of India and other central agenciesAdvocates Navkiran Singh and Harpreet Kaur represented an intervenor.Advocates Aman Rani and Pritpal Singh Swaich also represented an applicantAdditional Advocate General Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala represented the State of Punjab. Deputy Advocate General Arun Beniwal represented the State of Haryana. Public Prosecutor A.M. Punchhi with Additional Public Prosecutor represented the UT Chandigarh.Advocate Rajeev Anand represented the CBI.[Read Judgment]