PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by the Rockdrill projects Pvt Ltd, Rajasthan and directed them to pay within next six weeks compensation of Rs 16 lakh along with interest to the family of one Shubham Bhople who died due to drowning in a sewerage chamber at Kapilesharti-Ponda in May last year.
The court ordered that the compensation amount be deposited before the Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner and be paid to the victim’s mother Chadrakala Bhople.
The Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner has also been asked to dispose the penalty proceedings under the Act expeditiously and in any case within next three months and to file a compliance report before the Court.
Rockdrill projects Pvt Ltd, had challenged the South Goa Collector directing them to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of Shubham Bhopale who died due to drowning in a sewerage chamber at Kapileshwari, Ponda. It had also challenged the Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner awarding Bhople’s mother compensation assessed at Rs 16.80 lakh with 12 per cent rate of interest with effect from June 2022 till the date of actual payment.
The petitioner was awarded the contract of the Goa Sewerage Infrastructure Development Corporation. The contractor had paid Rs 5 lakh to the petitioner as a humanitarian gesture. The petitioner said that the victim was working at a construction site and not a sewer as prescribed under the Manual Scavengers Act.
