The father of a nine-year-old boy, who died in May after falling in a drain, moved the Delhi High Court on Saturday demanding compensation of Rs. 50 lakh from the AAP government for causing the death of his child.
Naushad, a resident of Shakurpur, moved the HC saying that the Delhi government should compensate him for the loss of his son, whose life was cut short by negligence on part of the State and the Public Works Department.
Mr. Naushad’s son Anas died after falling into a 15-feet-deep drain on May 9 near the road connecting Wazirpur to Rani Bagh. The drain comes under the PWD and was left uncovered.
Police had said that Anas was returning home around 9 p.m. and did not see the drain as there were no street lights in the area. The boy fell in the drain and drowned. His body was fished out two hours later.
Couple make Rs. 15,000 per month
Mr. Naushad and his wife work as tailors earning Rs. 15,000 per month. They now have two daughters to raise.
“The Delhi government must compensate for its negligence. The Superintending Engineer (North), in his report, found negligence on the part of the officials of the PWD,” said Mr. Naushad. After meetings with AAP leader Satyendar Jain failed to yield any result, Mr. Naushad moved High Court through advocate Ashok Agarwal.
The advocate contended that when the Arvind Kejriwal-led government can give compensation of Rs. 1 crore each to the kin of murdered NDMC official M.M. Khan and NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad, then it should compensate for the death of Mr. Naushad’s son too.
“Mr. Khan and Mr. Ahmad’s death had nothing to do with the government, but Anas died due to its negligence,” said Mr. Naushad.
