More than two years after a tree branch fell on a motorcyclist on a busy Bengaluru road, leaving him with severe spinal injuries, the Karnataka High Court has ordered the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to pay him Rs 2.77 crore in compensation.
Allowing the writ petition in part, Justice Suraj Govindaraj directed the GBA's Commissioner and Deputy Conservator of Forests to jointly pay petitioner Chandan G, 38, Rs 2,77,29,625, with 6 per cent annual interest from the date of the accident until the date of payment.
Chandan was on his way to work on Richmond Road on March 7, 2024, when the branch of a Gulmohar tree that stood on the premises of Good Shepherd Convent School fell on him. He suffered serious neck and spinal injuries and was taken by passersby to a nearby hospital, and then to Sparsh Hospital, where he was treated for months.
A disability certificate from Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital assessed his disability at 85 per cent, but the court accepted his contention that his functional disability is 100 per cent.
The school told the court it had written to the civic body on February 22, 2024, 14 days before the accident, seeking permission to prune the branch. The court held that the civic body owed a statutory and public duty over the tree even though it stood on private premises. It also rejected the GBA’s argument that the accident was an act of God or natural event that could limit the agency's liability.
After the incident, the civic body paid Chandan an ex gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh and the school paid Rs 3 lakh. The school has also undertaken to honour its earlier promise of free education for his daughter until Class 12.
Advocate Girish Bandi, appearing for the petitioner, welcomed the order. "The incident has changed Chandan's life; he was the sole breadwinner of my family as his wife is also disabled and has a daughter," he said, adding that Chandan has spent around Rs 50 lakh on medical expenses so far and will have to spend more. Chandan is unable to work.
Sweeping directions on public safety
In a 353-page verdict, the court also issued general directions to the State government to set up a comprehensive mechanism to detect and respond to public safety hazards. The 70-page section of directions contains 52 main directions and about 380 sub-clauses.
Hazards covered include trees, damaged roads, open manholes, blocked drains, exposed electrical installations, unsafe construction, encroachments, and any condition capable of causing death or serious injury.
The court observed that the difficulty in most cases is not a lack of statutory power but the failure to identify, record, assess urgency and ensure action when responsibility is divided among departments, contractors, utilities or private owners.
The court directed the State to build a digital system for detecting and fixing public safety hazards. Buses, garbage trucks, municipal and police vehicles will carry registered cameras that log date, time and location, while a single channel will accept reports from citizens and agencies, each given a unique ID and tracked to closure.
Public assets will get digital IDs identifying who is responsible. AI-flagged hazards must be verified by a field officer and ranked from emergency to routine, with response deadlines from four hours to 30 days.