Lucknow: The Allahabad high court’s Lucknow bench has asked the state govt to consider framing a clear policy and parameters for determining compensation in incidents other than natural calamities, observing that payment of different amounts in different cases could lead to discrimination and arbitrariness.The matter has been posted for next hearing on Oct 15.A bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla passed the order while hearing a PIL petition filed by Shivendu Pandey in connection with the Aliganj fire tragedy.The court also asked the govt to explain why the compensation already paid to the victims’ families should be considered inadequate and why it should not be enhanced.The court noted that families of each of the 15 people who died in the fire had received financial assistance from different sources, totaling around Rs 11 lakh to Rs 12 lakh.This included Rs 5 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Discretionary Fund, Rs 4 lakh from the State Disaster Response Fund and Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.However, the bench was informed that some families had not yet received the Rs 2 lakh assistance from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.At this, the bench asked the counsel for the Union govt, Varun Pandey, to get the facts verified.The court also directed the state to formulate a policy for payment of compensation in cases which are not covered by any statutory provision. It observed that whenever the govt provides compensation outside the scope of statutory schemes, there should be defined parameters for determining the amount payable.During the hearing, advocate Apoorva Tewari referred to three Supreme Court judgments and submitted that where there is no policy or statutory framework governing compensation, principles applicable to motor accident claims could be considered for determining compensation.The bench asked the state govt to keep these judgments in mind and file an affidavit disclosing the compensation paid so far and explaining why the amount should not be enhanced.The court also took note of the condition of 25-year-old Jayant Gupta, who suffered serious injuries and disability in the fire and is undergoing treatment at King George’s Medical University.The victims’ counsel informed the court that his treatment costs around Rs 70,000 a month, while he has received only Rs 50,000 as compensation so far.The bench observed prima facie that the incident could not be attributed only to the building owner’s lapse, as the role of authorities also required consideration for allowing the building to come up and be used for commercial purposes illegally.The court said that the state should bear the treatment expenses of the injured youth.
