Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court: While considering the instant matter wherein the petitioners were seeking compensation on account of the death of their children due to blast caused by an unexploded shell in 2007, on account of the negligence of the respondents, the Bench of Sindhu Sharma, J.*, held that the petitioners, who are the next of kin of the deceased children, are entitled to compensation as per the Revised Guidelines of the Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorists/Communal/Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Violence and Cross Border Firing and Mine/IED Blasts on Indian Territory, 2022 (“CSACV”) in the manner as set up in Clause-2 of the Revised Guidelines.
The Court noted that the guidelines provide for incidents that are operative from 01-04-2008, and the death of the children occurred in 2007. Since the CSACV scheme was brought in to assist the civilian victim of terrorist violence, the benefit of the same cannot be denied to the petitioners who were unable to seek any compensation for the death of their children. Furthermore, CSACV scheme does not bar in raising of a claim for compensation even after the lapse of considerable period of delay, hence the petitioners cannot be denied the benefit of the scheme.
Background and Contentions: In a tragic incident, two children died due to blast caused by unexploded shell which was lying in the small arms firing range of 18 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion near fringes of Kuligam forest on 05-07-2009. The petitioners, whose children died, therefore sought a direction to the respondents to compensate them adequately for their negligent act.
The petitioners submitted that the deceased children were 14 and 15 years old and were grazing their cattle when they encountered an unexploded shell which exploded upon contact. The petitioners also submitted that they are themselves involved in the activity of grazing cattle on the common land/forest area and their livelihood is dependent on the earnings from grazing cattle as they have no other source of income. It was stated that the respondents did not pay any compensation to petitioners for the loss suffered by them except paltry ex-gratia relief of Rs. 1 lakh each.
The petitioners thus sought compensation on account of the death of their children, on the ground that the respondents were liable to take precautions and safeguards and failure on the part of the respondents would make them liable to pay compensation on account of the “strict liability”.
The respondents denied any involvement of the Army/Battalion in the death of two children which was caused by a blast of a likely Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which could be used by anti-national elements. The respondents submitted that the instant petition had been filed after considerable delay, as the death of the petitioners’ children had occurred in the year 2007 and the petitioners have approached the Court after more than ten years, hence the petition is not maintainable. The respondents argued that whether the explosion was caused by ammunition left by the army or by the IED of the anti-national elements, is a disputed question of fact, which cannot be dealt into at this stage.
Court’s Assessment: Perusing the facts and contentions, the Court noted that the petitioners had lost their young children in an unfortunate incident of blast, whether the same has occurred due to negligence of the respondents or by some anti-national elements, it would not prevent the Court from maintaining the petition even after delay. The ground of delay in the present facts and circumstances will not come in the way of the petitioners to seek compensation, more so when the respondents had noticed such incidents and framed guidelines for assistance to victims.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had framed Revised Guidelines of Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian victims/Family of Victims of Terrorists/Communal/Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Violence and Cross Border Firing and Mine/IED Blasts on Indian Territory, 2022. As per this scheme, for incidents which have occurred during period 01-04-2008 to 23-08-2016, the financial assistance is Rs. 3 lacs and for incidents occurring on or after 24-08-2016, the financial assistance is Rs. 5 lacs.
The Court further took note of Clause 4 of the Revised Guidelines of Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian victims/Family of Victims of Terrorists/Communal/Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Violence and Cross Border Firing and Mine/IED Blasts on Indian Territory, 2022. It was pointed out that as per the revised guidelines, petitioners fulfil the eligibility as the death of the children had occurred due to IED blast on Indian territory and families can be granted assistance even if they have received assistance by ex gratia or any other relief [as per Clause 4(1)].
The Court further pointed out that the financial reimbursement scheme is payable to the eligible beneficiaries in the first instance and the petitioners fall within in the definition of Clause 3(d) which defines “Next of Kin” i.e., the surviving spouse or dependent children or as certified by the District collector/Magistrate/Deputy Commissioner.
With afore-stated assessment of the revised scheme, the Court held that the petitioners are entitled to an amount as stated in Clause-2 of the CSACV Guidelines.
[Yaar Mohammad Kataria v. Union of India, 2024 SCC OnLine J&K 310, decided on 20-04-2024]
*Judgment by Justice Sindhu Sharma
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For petitioner- Faisal Javaid, Advocate
For respondents- T. M. Shamsi, DSGI; Rekha Wangnoo, GA vice and Mubeen Wani, Dy. AG