After it fails to comply with Bombay High Court's order, BMC told to deposit Rs 10 lakh within two days to compensate the family of Rajesh Maru, who died in an accident in the MRI room last year
Rajesh Maru's parents at their home. File Pictures
The Bombay High Court (HC) on Monday gave the civic body two days to pay the R10 lakh compensation to the family of Rajesh Maru, who died last year after being sucked into an MRI machine. The order comes two months after HC first directed the BMC to pay the compensation within six weeks.
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On September 17, a division bench of justices Akil Kureshi and S J Kathawalla had ordered the BMC to deposit R10 lakh as a five-year fixed deposit in a nationalised bank as interim compensation for the Maru family. They were also asked to pay the interest amount regularly, considering the fact that Rajesh was the only breadwinner of the family. The civic body was supposed to deposit the amount within six weeks of the order, which was by October 29.
In response to the contempt petition, Joaquim Reis, the advocate representing the civic body said that the BMC had appealed against the HC order and had also filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. He added that the matter was yet to be heard and they were hoping for a stay order from the apex court.
Rajesh Maru's family performs his last rites
During the hearing, justice S J Kathawalla observed that the BMC had breached the sentence, and said, “The civic body is directed to deposit R10 lakh in a nationalised bank on or before November 20.” However, he has also granted BMC a week’s time to obtain relief from the SC before the next hearing in the matter on November 25.
Hoping that the BMC pays the compensation at the end, Rajesh’s father Shyamji Maru said, “If the high court has ordered the BMC to pay the money, then how can they ignore it? I know that it’ll be a long process and a lot of it is not in our hands, but we need the money and for that we’ll fight in court.” He added that before filing the contempt petition, his daughter had visited the BMC to enquire about the payment but she didn’t get any response.
General secretary of Mumbai Congress, Susi Shah, who is also a woman’s rights activist, has been helping the Marus with the legal process.
Condemning BMC’s decision to appeal against the order in SC, she said, “The family has lost their only breadwinner and instead of helping them financially, the BMC is dragging them to the SC. It’s a reflection of their attitude. We will continue to support the family and help them get through this.”
NOV 25
Day the matter will be heard again
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