KOCHI: “I bow my head in shame and I apologise on behalf of the system to the family of the young boy who was crushed to death after he fell from his motorcycle while trying to evade a deep pothole on the road,” said Justice Devan Ramachandran while considering a petition seeking to repair potholed roads in Kochi.
Justice Ramachandran’s unprecedented statement came a day after a 23-year-old was run over by a lorry at Palarivattom after his bike’s handle hit an iron barricade placed over a pit and he fell off the motorcycle. “Though the court had issued repeated orders to repair the roads, nothing happened. The unfortunate incident occurred when the petition was pending before the court. So the court apologises to the bereaved family,” the judge said.
“The court has lost faith in the system. How many more people should die to tackle the menace?” the court asked the government. “The only hope for the ailing mother and the father has been lost. He was the sole breadwinner. He was also working to augment the income of the family,” he said.
The government informed the court the Ernakulam district collector has ordered an inquiry into the incident and the government is trying to avoid this kind of incident in the future.The court said the officer in charge of the road should be on the road not in the AC rooms.The court also said everybody is visiting abroad and watching the development there. But no such development is happening here, it said.
The advocate general informed the court that the government has decided to give `10 lakh to the family of the deceased, but the court asked how many times the government would pay `10 lakh to the public.
“It’s painful,” observed the court and added that the irresponsibility of the system caused the young man’s death and said it won’t permit a repeat of the incident.
The court also appointed three advocates — S Krishna, P Deepak and Vinod Bhat as amicus curiae to assist the court in the case. The court directed them to visit various roads in the city and file a report. The court posted the case on December 20.