• Compensation to be paid if a Govt Dept is found to be shielding criminals or criminal acts

Has there been any instances in India, where courts have asked civic department such Municipal Corporation to pay compensation to affected victims, if the said civic department was found to be protecting, shielding, hiding, criminals/ corrupt officers or hiding criminal acts or corruption. Or if its found that its own officers were involved in aiding abetting forgery or other crimes and yet it did not take any action.
For example if during an internal enquiry, the civic department comes across act of l forgery and orders for FIR against perpetrators but does not file a actual FIR for many years allowing the forgery to continue then can it be asked to pay compensation to affected victims. Please cite with relevant case laws
Asked 6 years ago in Criminal Law
Religion: Hindu

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12 Answers

You can claim the same during your complaint.  Court may award compensation to you by claiming the same from state

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
34529 Answers
249 Consultations

1. The liability fastened to the State or Instrumentality of States by the conduct or duty discharged by its officials.

2. Now if it is found due to misfeasance or malfeasance of the Corporation  a citizen has met with damages or loss in life or property then said statutory or public authority can be directed award damages and compensation.

3. However shielding a criminal does not fall within the statutory duty of a official of the state or its instrumentality and hence for this you have remedy in private wrong and no actionable public wrong is done here.

4. To counter shoddy investigation you should file writ petition in high court against police inaction.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23655 Answers
537 Consultations

Hi,

When some criminal act is done by officials of government department, the department is supposed to take action in time and on priority. The action not taken by department is a great lapse and appropriate civil as well as criminal cases can be filed by victims for action against department and for compensation.

Ganesh Singh
Advocate, New Delhi
7169 Answers
16 Consultations

This is a grave issue and departments generally shield officers and employees. But if you have sufficient proof of the illegal acts and omissions of the employee ls and the department then you can file a public interest litigation in the high court with relevant documents and the court shall order an enquiry.

Regards

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14114 Answers
65 Consultations

If no action is taken by muncipal corporation against criminals who have committed forgery then courts can direct it to pay compensation to victims 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
99794 Answers
8147 Consultations

The leading decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in recognizing the power of the Constitutional courts to award compensation against the state in public law is Rudul Shah v. State of Bihar . This was followed in Sebastian M. Hongray v. Union of India and a large number of other cases. In Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa , the Hon'ble Supreme Court delineated the principles on which compensation can be directed to be paid by the state or its agency in a writ petition under either Article 32 by the Supreme Court or Article 226 by a High Court, and explained it in the following words (SCC, p. 758):

It would, however, be appropriate to spell out clearly the principle on which the liability of the State arises in such cases for payment of compensation and the distinction between this liability and the liability in private law for payment of compensation in action on tort. It may be mentioned straightway that award of compensation in a proceeding under Article 32 by this Court or by the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution is a remedy available in public law based on strict liability for contravention of fundamental rights to which the principle of sovereign immunity does not apply, even though it may be available as a defense in private law in an action based on tort.

 

2) its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 this Court can grant the relief of compensation based on the strict liability principle in a situation where there is a breach of a public duty. On the given facts of a case, liability would lie with the state if the claimant is able to show that the state acted negligently or that the 'State or its instrumentality failed to discharge the duty of care cast upon it, resulting in deprivation of life or limb of a person.' In discharging the burden of proving negligence it would be open to the claimant, if the facts and circumstances so permit, to invoke the res ipsa loquitur doctrine

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
99794 Answers
8147 Consultations

Citations have no blanket applicability. Unless the details and contents of your case is known no decisions can be cited.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23655 Answers
537 Consultations

https://www.google.com/amp/s/wap.business-standard.com/article-amp/opinion/from-sc-on-compensation-to-it-firm-s-right-here-are-the-key-court-orders-[deleted]_1.html

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
34529 Answers
249 Consultations

The court will not do any such act automatically.

The affected party must pray in his case before court seeking direction to the local civic authorities to pay compensation to the affected parties through the persons who were responsible for the grievances of the affected or aggrieved party.

The civic body can take action against its officers who are involved in such crimes directly by ordering departmental inquiry as well as lodging criminal complaints agaisnt them before the police.

 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
89995 Answers
2496 Consultations

there are scores of cases on this issue. in fact, the High Courts and the SC are dealing with these issues on a daily basis. therefore no need to cite the obvious.

regards

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14114 Answers
65 Consultations

For citation pls contact local advocate personally. 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19325 Answers
32 Consultations

Dear client

A govt department if found shielding the act forgery intentionally due to which any private person got affected then that person can file a claim case on that department after finding out the forgery was done by knowledge of officials.

 

Mohit Kapoor
Advocate, Rohtak
10686 Answers
7 Consultations

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