HC orders state to pay Rs 1.5L ex gratia to kin of 2 workers killed in 2013 landslide
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Cuttack: Orissa high court has ordered the state govt to pay Rs 1.5 lakh each as ex gratia along with interest to the families of two labourers who died in a landslide in Nayagarh in 2013, quashing the district administration's decision to deny the relief.
Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra, while delivering the judgments on July 10, ruled in favour of the families of Taleswar Jani and Krushna Chandra Mallik, who were killed while working on a road construction project in Sirikibadi village under Banigochha police station limits on July 17, 2013.
Both were buried alive in a sudden landslide during heavy rainfall. However, the Nayagarh collector rejected their families' applications for compensation on June 17, 2022, citing that rainfall on the day of the landslide was below the "standard threshold" prescribed under the Odisha Relief Code.
Calling the rejection "highly arbitrary and unreasonable", the court observed, "Having such a condition as a yardstick to grant compensation is irrational. The state, being a welfare state, must act fairly and reasonably. Viewed from a constitutional perspective, the rejection cannot be justified as being in public interest."
The petitions were filed by Jani's wife, Surama Jani, and son, Jayram Jani, and Mallik's wife, Rasana Mallik, and daughter, Ranjita Mallik.
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The court held that the cause of death — a landslide — was undisputed, and that compensation under the relief code was applicable. "The impugned orders rejecting the claim of the petitioners are hereby quashed," the order stated.
The state has been directed to pay Rs 1.5 lakh to each family, along with interest calculated from the date of their application. The amount must be paid within two months of receiving a certified copy of the judgment. In case of delay, an interest of 12% per annum will be levied until full payment is made.
Legal experts said the ruling underscores the need for humane and rational application of disaster relief policies and may have wider implications for similar cases pending across the state.
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