CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has decided to consider a PIL seeking Rs 30 lakh compensation for kin of eight migrant workers who were killed in a road accident at Cherikhedi in Chhattisgarh on September 5, 2020.
The petition has also sought Rs 15 lakh compensation for each of the 10 migrant workers who were permanently disabled in the accident.
The migrant workers were travelling in the bus from Ganjam to Surat.
The PIL filed by Berhampur-based Bharatiya Bikash Parishad on September 30 came up for hearing on Tuesday.
The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray said, “None appears for the petitioner despite a pass over. In the interests of justice, list after eight weeks”.
According to the petition, the migrant workers travelling in the ill-fated bus were working at Surat but had returned to their homes in Odisha due to nationwide lockdown in March 2020.
They were going back again to Surat after they did not get alternative engagement in Odisha for their survival.
While the fitness certificate of the bus had lapsed since May 2019, the vehicle insurance had also expired since September 2019. Road tax had also not been paid since September 30, 2018, the petition stated.
“The accident occurred due to callousness and sheer negligence of the government as the vehicle was not properly checked by any transport authorities. The bus, which was not having valid road tax, insurance and fitness certificates, was allowed to run and carry as many as 67 passengers violating the Covid guidelines”, the petition alleged.