The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that compensation under the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited's Circular is not payable where an electrocution accident occurs within a consumer's domestic premises while operating an internal electrical appliance such as a Tullu Pump. The Court expressed concern over the Electricity Department's failure to communicate the rejection of the petitioner's compensation application and directed it to ensure timely communication of such orders in future.

Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad was hearing a writ petition filed by the husband of a deceased woman seeking compensation on account of her death due to electrocution. The petitioner contended that his wife died on 02.11.2024 after suffering an electric shock while shifting and operating a Tullu Pump inside the residential premises. He alleged that the electrocution occurred due to the negligence of the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited and sought compensation along with interest. The Electricity Distribution Company opposed the petition, contending that the accident had occurred within the domestic premises while operating a Tullu Pump and therefore fell outside the scope of the compensation scheme under the Circular dated 10.09.2018.

The Court observed that the police final report, as well as the material on record, established that the deceased died due to electrocution while operating a domestic Tullu Pump within the residential premises. It held that such an accident did not fall within the scope of the Circular dated 10.09.2018 governing payment of compensation for specified electrical accidents.

However, the Court observed that although the respondent authorities claimed that the petitioner's compensation application had been rejected by order dated 10.10.2025, there was nothing on record to show that the rejection order had ever been communicated to him.

The Court held that every applicant is entitled to know the fate of his application within a reasonable time and that failure to communicate such decisions deprives an affected person of the opportunity to avail appropriate legal remedies.

It, therefore, directed the competent officers of the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited to personally ensure that every order passed on an application is duly communicated to the concerned applicant without delay and cautioned that recurrence of such lapses could invite appropriate action in accordance with law.

Accordingly, the Court dismissed the writ petition seeking compensation while issuing directions to the Electricity Distribution Company to ensure prompt communication of orders passed on compensation applications.

Case Title: Shrawan Kewat v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. [WPC No. 1910 of 2025]

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