CUTTACK: In a significant ruling on Tuesday, the Orissa High Court directed the state government to pay Rs 20 lakh as compensation to Sabita Nishank (62), widow of a panchayat executive officer who died in jail custody in January 2017.
The single judge bench of Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy held that the death resulted from negligence on the part of jail authorities who failed to provide timely and adequate medical treatment.
Concluding that the petitioner was entitled to compensation for the custodial death, the HC ordered the state to pay Rs 20 lakh. “This court accordingly directs opp party no 1 to release the aforesaid compensation amount in favour of the petitioner within a period of 6 (six) weeks,” Justice Satapathy said.
Justice Satapathy further observed that “by the time direction was issued to shift the UTP for better treatment, his health condition had already deteriorated”. The court held that since the prisoner was in custody since September 20, 2016, and his health condition declined fatally while under state care, the claim of negligence stood established.
Nishank had filed the writ petition in December 2017 seeking a direction to the state to pay `50 lakh for the “premature death of her husband due to latches and negligence by not providing proper adequate treatment facilities, diet and medicines” inside Nimapara sub-jail. She further prayed for a declaration that the jail authorities’ failure to provide adequate medical care was “bad, illegal, and arbitrary”.
Her husband - Krutibash Khatei worked as a panchayat executive officer in Opega and Pamsora gram panchayat. He was arrested on September 20, 2016, on charges of misappropriation of public funds. Accordingly, a case was registered against him and he was remanded as an under-trial prisoner (UTP) to Nimapara sub-jail.
Petitioner counsel Hemant Kumar Rout argued that Nishank’s husband had been a chronic diabetic since 2008, a fact known to jail authorities, yet “was never provided with proper treatment for his suffering from blood sugar”. When his condition worsened, she filed an application before the JMFC, Pipili seeking directions for improved medical care. Although the UTP was referred to the Puri DHH and then to SCBMCH, Cuttack on January 25, 2017, he died the next day.